


A Spirit From Space

by MoonalineMariaGia2004



Series: Crossovers [1]
Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012), Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Jack X Bunny, JackRabbit - Freeform, M/M, Mpreg, Other, Tristan x Ezra, Trizra, frostbunny - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-29
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:20:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 35,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25583518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoonalineMariaGia2004/pseuds/MoonalineMariaGia2004
Summary: Jack finds out that Bunny wasn’t the only guardian who was alien. Turns out that his parents were humans from two different planets that crash-landed on Earth many years ago… AU. Trizra and Jackrabbit/Frostbunny.
Relationships: E. Aster Bunnymund/Jack Frost, Ezra Bridger & Jack Frost, Ezra Bridger & Pitch Black, Ezra Bridger/Tristan Wren, Jack Frost & Nicholas St. North, Tristan Wren & Jack Frost
Series: Crossovers [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1854208
Comments: 34
Kudos: 32





	1. Gifts And Presents

**Author's Note:**

> I’ve been obsessed with ROTG and SWR for a while now. Don’t kill me for this! I’ve been wanting to make a Tristan X Ezra story that isn’t a one-shot, plus this just popped out of my mind this morning. No Trizra yet, but you’ll soon see it ^^ Well, hopefully
> 
> Also, FORGIVE ME FOR NORTH’S RUSSIAN ACCENT AND FOR ASTER’S AUSSIE ACCENT! I DON’T REALLY KNOW HOW TO WRITE THAT DOWN, BUT I TRIED MY BEST! PROMISE! DX
> 
> Btw, this takes place at 2014, since in my country, the movie came out 2012. I’m sticking to that timeline :)
> 
> Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN RISE OF THE GUARDIANS AND STAR WARS REBELS. If I did, gayness will mostly happen.

2 years.

It had been 2 years since he and the other Guardians stopped Pitch Black, the Nightmare King. 2 years since he was chosen to be a Guardian, the Guardian of Fun.

2 years since he saw his memories in his memory box.

Jack Frost, Spirit of Winter, sat on the tree near the lake he awoken in. He looked up at the moon above him, a sigh escaping his lips.

He really wished he kept the box. It was technically HIS, but at the same time, it wasn’t. Queen Toothiana, the Tooth Fairy and the Guardian of Memories, owned the teeth she collected and owned the memories inside them too. He couldn’t just TAKE the box, so he just gave it to the teeth-obsessed fairy queen as soon as they made it to the Pole 2 years ago.

“I really wish I kept it, though,” he thought out loud, leaning against the branch of the frozen tree before staring up at the moon, whose man had given him his name 302 years ago. “Why did you have to take them away? Why? Just… why?”

By then, he had closed his eyes and leaned more on the branch, tears threatening to roll down his cheeks as he let out a shaky breath.

It wasn’t the cold. He was used to it, being a Winter spirit and all. It wasn’t the feeling of loneliness. The Guardians were family to him already.

But… that was the problem. He was the fifth guardian, and it somewhat felt… familiar to him. Like he had felt someone close to him that had the same experience. A relative? Maybe. His parents? Perhaps. His sister? Hmm…

He was so focused on his thoughts that he was unable to hear a tunnel open up below him. He was unable to hear a certain Pooka come out and land on the snow below, shivering at the cold, Winter air that hit his fur. What Jack DID hear was someone knocking on his tree. Hard.

BOOM! BOOM!

“Oi, Frostbite!”

Jack snapped his eyes opened in surprise at the voice. He straightened himself up and looked down to see himself face to face with a certain Aussie-accented Pooka.

“Oh, hey, Kangaroo!” He greeted with a chuckle. “What’s up?”

“Don’t call me Kangaroo, Frost,” E. Aster Bunnymund, the Easter Bunny and the Guardian of Hope, scowled at the Winter spirit, crossing his arms. “Also, did you forget already, mate?”

“Uh… is there something I needed to remember?” Jack leaned over to the Spring spirit, scratching his head in confusion.

“North’s ‘Christmas Party’, two days after Christmas,” Bunny, or Aster, rolled his eyes. “It starts in a few minutes,”

“Oh, MIM, I forgot!” Jack grabbed his staff that had been hanging on the nearby branch and quickly jumped up.

As soon as he did, the branch he had been sitting on suddenly snapped from the tree. He wasn’t able to call the Wind to help him when he felt himself falling.

“JACK!”

The Winter spirit felt his cheeks frost up a blush and his stomach flutter the moment he heard his fellow guardian called him by his REAL name. Before he could react, however, long, furry arms wrapped around him and grabbed him down to safety.

Jack gasped and looked up to see Aster staring down at him with worry. The boy took advantage of the situation and grinned.

“What’s up, Cottontail?”

“Argh, you little…” Aster snarled and dropped the kid in the snow. “Come on, you bloody show pony. North’s waitin’ up on us,”

“Right,” Jack hissed at the pain before letting the Wind help him up. He then smirked at the Pooka. “Race to the Pole?”

“Oh, you’re on, mate,” Aster grinned and prepared to make another tunnel. “Last one there is a rotten egg,”

“Then that’ll be you!” Jack proceeded to fly off, the Wind helping him soar through the midnight sky.

“HEY!” Aster roared out as he raised a fist up at the cheeky spirit. “THAT’S CHEATIN’!”

“IT’S NOT!” Jack laughed before flying off into the clouds.

He was soon so high that he could hardly see Bunny, or Burgess, but he didn’t really care. Up there, with the clouds and the Wind, he felt his sadness glide into the air and away from his mind and heart. He let the breeze blow away his frozen tears as he glided down and around.

Flying around. It always made him feel so free, even if it was just the Wind carrying him around. He didn’t know why, but in his heart, he wanted to fly, soar up past the moon…

All the way to space.

It was something that Bunny had told him a few months ago when they had gotten closer. The Pooka was an alien, after all, the last of his race. Manny, Mother Nature and Father Time were the ones who saved him, placed him on Earth to protect the children and give them hope, but Aster still remembered. He still remembered his home… his planet… his family…

Jack jerked out of his thoughts the moment the Wind nearly let go off him.

“Woah!” The Winter spirit waved his arms around in panic. “Wind, help!”

He was falling down pretty fast. He placed his hands over his eyes, waiting for what will happen next when a gust of wind blew him back up into the clouds. He gasped and removed his hands with a pout.

“You sure took your precious time to answer,” he whined. “I could’ve died! Again!”

“(You whine too much.)” the Wind responded through a whisper.

“It’s true, though,” Jack scoffed. “Let’s just keep going to the Pole before Bunny beats me. And HELL NO, am I going to let him hover THAT over my head up to next century!”

X

“Ah, Perfect!” Nicholas St. North, Santa Claus and the Guardian of Wonder, cheered as he and the Yetis set up the Christmas tree.

“And here’s the star!” Toothiana flew up to the top of the decorated pine tree, placing a bright, plastic star ornament on it. “It’s beautiful, North!”

“Thank you, Tooth!” North beamed at the compliment, quite proud of sharing his holiday with his fellow guardians, no matter how late it was. “I cannot wait for party! Had Sandy, Bunny and Jack arrived yet?”

A bright glow entered the room, and the two turned to see Sanderson Mansnoozie, the Sandman and the Guardian of Dreams, enter with a bright smile. Tooth laughed at their friend’s glowing entrance.

“THERE is our star!” She grinned.

“Sandy! Good to see you, friend!” North addressed the Guardian of Dreams with a beaming smile.

[“Good to see you too,”] Sandy signed with joy before sand figures of a rabbit and a boy appeared on his head, along with a question mark. [“Where are Aster and Jack?”]

“They haven’t arrived yet,” Tooth answered.

“Don’t worry about them!” North let out a hearty laugh. “Bunny might… dislike the fact that Christmas is better than Easter, but he always comes to parties!”

[“Ahem, ‘mostly’ comes,”] Sandy corrected.

“Sandy’s right, North,” Tooth agreed with a nod. “There WERE a few times Aster didn’t attend your parties,”

“Da, those were only some parties!” North didn’t budge, being in too much of a good mood. “He attends MOST parties, and I’m sure he will attend this one!”

“He says that every year… at every party…” Tooth whispered to the Guardian of Dreams.

[“He doesn’t really care if Aster says no,”] Sandy signed with a face-palm. [“but he DOES care if he makes tunnels in the workshop,”]

As if on cue, a tunnel opened up below them, and Aster popped out with a grin.

“Bunny! You came!” North, still too jolly to pay attention to the tunnel, ran to the Pooka and squeezed him into a bone-crushing hug. “How are you, old friend?”

“Fine!” Aster gasped for air at the hug. “I just need to breathe! Let go, mate!”

North half-heartedly obliged but still managed to pat the Pooka on the back, causing him to nearly fall over. “Aw, come on, Aster! Cheer up! Iz Christmas!”

“Two days AFTA’ Christmas, mate,” Aster rubbed the spot the Russian heavily patted with a hiss. “An’ for your information, Easter’s still betta’ than Christmas,”

“Iz not!” North harrumphed, crossing his arms.

“Is too!”

“Iz not!”

“Is too!”

“There they go again,” Tooth sighed as she and Sandy watched the argument. “At least we know ONE person who can ruin North’s Christmas spirit…”

Sandy shook his head then he flew up to the two and forcefully separating them with his sand whips. The two stumbled back on surprise as the Sandman pointed to each of them to apprehend them.

[“No fighting, both of you!”] he signed, glaring at them sternly as several sand figures appeared on his head. [“We’re here to celebrate, not fight,”]

“Sorry, mate, but North started it,” Aster huffed.

“Did not!” North frowned for a minute before bellowing out a jolly laugh. “Oh, who am I kidding? We do this every year, da? Every year, and we never get tired of it!”

“Yeah, we do,” Aster chuckled then he looked around. “Where’s the little Frostbite?”

“Jack? I thought YOU were supposed to get him,” Tooth pointed out.

“We were racin’ here,” Aster explained with a grin. “Guess I won then,”

“No fair!” The doors burst open, and a blast of coldness entered the room as Jack flew in with the Wind. “I got caught up with something! NO way would you have won,”

“Sure, Snowflake, sure,” Aster rolled his eyes as the youngest spirit landed in front of him. “Keep tellin’ yourself that,”

“Well,” North clasped his hands together happily. “since we are all here now, iz time for party!”

X

Jack had been to North’s Christmas Party before, but it seemed to be changing themes every year.

Last year, the theme was angels.

Everything had been angel-shaped. From the cookies to the tree ornaments, the room had been full of angels. Tooth and her fairies had heavily adored it, as did Sandy. Bunny, as usual, had shrugged it off. Jack had thought it was neat.

This year, the theme was stars, and as Jack could have guessed, the room was full of stars. The cookies, the decorations, most of the tree ornaments… even the candies and marshmallows were shaped like stars!

Jack still thought it was cool as he took a sip of the hot chocolate that North had given him. Sandy was having eggnog, Tooth was having tea, Bunny was having cocktail, and North was having vodka.

The Winter spirit smiled softly as he watched the three interact while Sandy laughed quietly. He himself was laughing at the tales North was sharing about the things he saw while delivering presents for the children during Christmas Eve. Bunny was teasing, and Tooth was giggling with her fairies.

“…and when I checked house, little boy had set up trap for me!” North bellowed with laughter. “I quickly gave presents, grabbed plate of cookies and left. When little boy came downstairs, he was shocked to see presents there AND plate of cookies gone!“

Another round of laughter came. Jack was careful not to spit out his drink as he joined the others in laughing their asses out. Bunny wasn’t as careful and spat out what the cocktail he was sipping onto the carpet while Tooth dropped her cup of tea and laughed so hard that she was holding her stomach.

“Ah, that was best fast delivery I had ever made,” North wiped a joyful tear from his eye. “Unfortunately for little boy, he will be in naughty list for setting trap with no permission from parents! Ha! The thought already made me laugh!”

“That’s a big difference Christmas and Easter, mate,” Aster snickered. “Pretty rare to find traps for this Easter Bunny. I move around the world quicker than you can on your sleigh,”

“Oh, iz that challenge, my friend?” North raised an eyebrow at the Pooka. “That can be arranged,”

“Oh, it’s on, mate,” Aster grinned. “Tomorrow afternoon. I’m already ahead of schedule, so I’ve got plenty of time,”

“Alright, but what iz condition, hmm?” North questioned.

“If I win, you’ll have to admit that Easter is more important Christmas. AGAIN,” Aster smirked.

“Ah, I see,” North rubbed his hands together with a smug grin. “And if I win, YOU admit that Christmas more important. Deal?”

“It’s a deal, mate,” The two shook hands, sealing the agreement.

“Oh boy, here they go again,” Jack shared a chuckle to the other two guardians.

[“Tomorrow will surely be a show,”] Sandy let out a silent giggle.

Tooth, on the other hand, had finally recovered from laughing too hard and set a hand on her chest, inhaling and exhaling as carefully as she could. As soon as she was calm enough, she glanced over at the rivaling duo and shook her head.

“That’s enough, you two!” she called out. “It’s time for gift exchange!”

“Yes! Secret Santa!” North happily grabbed a wrapped present from behind him and handed it to the golden guardian floating beside the fairy. “Merry Christmas, Sandy!”

Sandy gasped and opened the box to reveal a silver pouch. An exclamation mark made of sand appeared on top of his head before signing a ‘thank you’ to the Russian.

“Your welcome!” North clapped his hands, his mood turning completely jolly in seconds. “Now iz your turn!”

Sandy nodded and placed some of his dream sand in the pounce then he set it aside and took out a small gift. He turned and handed it to the fairy guardian.

[“Merry Christmas, Tooth!”] he signed.

“For me? Thanks, Sandy!” Tooth gratefully took the present to unwrap it. “A rainbow crown! Aw, I love it!”

[“Your welcome,”] Sandy smiled.

“My turn then!” Tooth placed the crown on her head then she took out a thin box and gave it to the youngest guardian. “Merry Christmas, Jack!”

“Thanks, Tooth!” Jack took the gift and opened it, his jaw dropping at what the fairy spirit gave him. “I-Is this… n-no way…”

“Mm-hmm!” Tooth nodded in approval. “It’s your memory box! I thought that since you weren’t able to clearly see your memories 2 years ago because of Pitch, you’d like to… Jack?”

But the Winter Spirit wasn’t listening. He couldn’t listen. His focus was at the memory box in his hand, his other hand grazing the golden cover. His arms were trembling, and he looked like he was about to break, much to the concern of the other Guardians, who exchanged worried glances at one another.

“Jack?” North moved closer to the boy. “Are you alright?”

“Something wrong, Frostbite?” Aster’s emerald eyes tried to meet the young spirit’s icy blue ones and tried to read the boy’s thoughts through his facial expression.

“Don’t you like the gift?” Tooth’s concern was laced around her motherly voice. “Is it a bad time?”

[“What’s wrong, Jack?”] Sandy signed with a three question marks on his head.

“It’s… I…” Jack’s voice shook, falling to stop the crystal tears from rolling down his cheeks. “I never thought I’d get my hands on this again…”

The answer stunned the four, but their expressions quickly changed to understanding. North sat back down, and Tooth let out a sigh of relief.

“Do you want to open it now, Jack?” the Russian asked.

“No, no, it’s fine,” Jack shook his head and removed his tears, placing the box in the pocket his hoodie. “I don’t want to spoil the party. I can wait. Besides, it’s my turn to give my present to a certain kangaroo,”

“Hey! I ain’t a kangaroo, you bloody show pony!” Aster scowled.

“Whatever,” Jack rolled his eyes playfully and took out a medium-sized box with a yellow bow. “Here you go, Cottontail. Merry Christmas!”

Aster accepted the box and removed the bow then he opened it, and his eyes widened in amusement. He dug a paw in and held one of the contents.

“A… carrot?”

“A STRESS carrot, Bunny,” Jack cackled at the spring spirit’s reaction. “It’s like a stress ball but shaped like a carrot! It’s when Easter’s near, and you’ve got so much to do. It can help ya relax, you know. Also, I got you some Snowdrop seeds for your flower garden. You didn’t have any, and I figured that it would be a great addition to your garden,”

“Ya never ceased to impress me, Snowflake,” Bunny chuckled and placed the Stress Carrot back inside.

The words gave a small flutter in the Winter spirit’s stomach, even as a wave of nostalgia hit his mind. Hadn’t he heard that line before but from someone else to another someone else? How come it still felt familiar to him?

“Two presents in one? That’s really sweet of you, Jack!” Tooth giggled.

Jack felt his cheeks frost up a blush as he glared at her. The fairy spirit didn’t seem to notice as she kept eyeing him and the Pooka with an ‘innocent’ smile. Her fairies behind her all giggled with their queen, even Baby Tooth, who was on her shoulder as she grinned at the youngest guardian.

“Yeah, thanks, mate,” Aster didn’t bother to hide the small smile forming on his face, causing Jack’s heart to warm up and flip in his chest, as the Guardian of Hope kept the gift and took out another, handing it North. “Here ya go, big guy,”

“Hmm?” North took the present and opened, beaming. “More blades! Yes!”

“Where in the world did you get weapons, Bunny?” Tooth glanced at the Pooka in disbelief as the Guardian of Wonder took out two katana blades. “And WHY?”

“Eh, couldn’t think of anything else for him but cookies and blades,” Aster shrugged. “And Hell No was I gettin’ him more treats. He’s got so much to last him a century!”

“Let’s just make sure he doesn’t drink anymore vodka,” Jack shuddered, already thinking of the consequences of a drunk North holding blades.

[“Agreed,”] Sandy quickly agreed, snatching the Russian’s glass from the table and flying off on his cloud to place it in the kitchen.

“MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!” North exclaimed as he pulled out and raised a WHOLE BOTTLE of vodka from beside his chair. “HERE IS TO THE END OF A GOOD YEAR!” **(Omg, was 2014 ever THAT good? Well, better than 2020 XD)**

“Crikey,” Aster cringed at the sight of the bottle as Tooth face-palmed, and Jack shook his head with a chuckle.

This was going to be a LONG night.


	2. Memorial Revelations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here! I tried to place in Trizra in this chapter, along with Jackrabbit/Frostbunny interaction ^^ Let’s see if I keep this promise XD
> 
> Also, Jack and his sister’s appearance here are a little different from the one in the movie. Jack will have his chocolate brown hair, but his eyes are sapphire blue eyes while his sister, whom I named Sasha, will have dark brown hair, laced with midnight blue on top, and golden brown eyes.
> 
> If you ask why, you’ll know why. Better watch both SWR and ROTG for things to make sense.
> 
> Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN RISE OF THE GUARDIANS AND STAR WARS REBELS. If I did, gayness will mostly happen.
> 
> Enjoy! XD

“Pin him down, Phil!”

“Get the swords from him, Bunny!”

“I’m gettin’ them! I’m gettin’ them! Sandy, knock him out!”

A struggle here, flipping couches there, and North was finally knocked out with the dream sand.

The Yetis, the elves, the fairies and other four guardians stood in front of him, looking exhausted. Aster and Jack had the blades North was holding while Tooth had the bottle of vodka, which was nearly empty. Sandy was hovering between them, a hand of dream sand ready in case the Guardian of Wonder was going to fight the effect of the first hit.

“Okay…” Tooth sighed in relief. “Okay! That was… um…”

“Interesting,” Jack chuckled.

“Definitely,” Aster groaned. “Note to self; NEVA’ give North any weapons for Christmas,”

“And let’s take vodka off the Drink List, alright, Phil?” Tooth turned to the Yeti.

Phil agreed immediately, obviously not liking what had just happened, and grabbed the bottle from the fairy spirit’s hand before stomping off. Sandy took a closer look at the Russian and kept the dream sand.

[“He isn’t going to wake up until tomorrow,”] he signed. [“Tooth and I will get him to bed. Aster, Jack, get the weapons in his weaponry,”]

“Aye, aye, mate,” Aster nodded and headed off into the hallway as Tooth and her fairies helped the other carry the large man.

“Wait, North has a weaponry?” Jack asked in surprise, following the Pooka down the hall.

“He doesn’t always keep his blades in his belt, ya know,” Aster chuckled at the boy’s reaction.

“I KNOW that, Cottontail,” Jack rolled his eyes. “I just didn’t think that he’d have a WHOLE room full of weapons,”

“I have a weaponry myself. Full of boomerangs, along with some other weapons that I don’t normally use, but eh,” Aster shrugged.

Jack smiled but soon realized that they were walking beside each other, give or take an inch from each other. He gulped and forced himself not to let out another frosty blush as they walked, unable to keep his hands from clenching out of nervousness.

He wanted to say something, anything, that would NOT come out as nervous stutters or make it obvious on how he felt about the Pooka, but it was almost IMPOSSIBLE.

Ask if he could hang out in the Warren the next day? Nah, too obvious. Ask how the other was doing? Nope, the Winter spirit still couldn’t control his words whenever he was alone with Bunny. He needed something more… subtle to say.

Thankfully, they had reached the weaponry before he could try to say anything else. Aster stepped forward and opened the door. (Yes, no security, no nothing)

“Here’s North’s weaponry, Frostbite,”

“Woah…” Jack’s eyes widened as they stepped inside.

The place was full of swords and other blades and weapons. The metal and special ones hung around the walls like trophies while others like the wooden ones were stashed in a weapon rack.

Aster places the blade he was holding on an empty spot on the wall. Jack followed and did the same thing then they left the weaponry without another word.

They headed back to the main room, where Phil and the other Yetis were busy cleaning up the mess from earlier. The elves should have been helping, but they were causing more trouble than help, so they were shooed away from the room.

Tooth and Sandy were nowhere to be seen, neither were Tooth’s fairies, so the pair assumed that they were still getting North to bed.

“Guess the party’s over then, huh?” Jack chortled.

“Guess so,” Aster merely gave a shrug before turning to leave. “See ya around, Snowflake. Thanks for the presents,”

Jack watched as the Pooka prepared to leave, lifting a foot up to conjure up a tunnel. Before the Winter spirit could stop himself, he grabbed the rabbit’s arm.

“Hey, Bunny!”

“Hmm?” Aster looked back at the boy with a raised eyebrow. “What is it?”

“I, uh, got no plans tomorrow,” Jack felt himself blush as he spoke. “C-Can I come over to the Warren to help you paint some eggs?”

Aster stared at him strangely, causing the boy to internally curse at his stupid stutters and obvious choice of words.

‘So much for subtle…’

“You? Paint eggs? In the Warren?” Aster narrowed his eyes at him. “What’s the catch?”

‘Should there ALWAYS be a catch?!’ Jack pouted and couldn’t help but feel hurt at the accusation, but he let the feeling go and let his sassy side take over to help him out. “Come on, Kangaroo, I just wanna hang out with you! Afraid that I’ll freeze the golems AGAIN?”

“As a matta’ a fact, yes.” Aster growled before sighing. “Look, Frostbite, you can come to visit, but NO FREEZIN’ ANYTHIN’. Got it?”

“Loud and clear, ‘Roo!” Jack grinned at his achievement. ‘Well, better this than nothing.’

“Good,” Aster huffed then he tapped his foot on the ground and disappeared into his tunnel without another word.

X

It was late night, and Jack couldn’t sleep a wink.

He had no idea why he so was restless that night. Was it because of the adrenaline from the party earlier? Nah, it ended hours ago. Was it because he got his memory box back from Tooth? Eh, maybe. Was it because, in just a couple of hours, he was going to be hanging out with his friend/crush?! Most definitely.

Jack groaned, trying to adjust his sleeping position on the tree he was laying down on. It didn’t really help, and he ended up on his back, with his hands behind his head as he looked up at the moon.

“I’ll never sleep without something running through my mind now, will I?” He bitterly chuckled.

He soon sat up and stretched his arms, cracking his knuckles. He grabbed his staff and called on the Wind to fly to the frozen lake. He sat on the icy surface and set his staff beside him then he took out the memory box from his hoodie.

It had been 2 years since he held the box in his hands. A long time since he saw what was inside.

The memories were too quick for him before. He could remember seeing his friends, the village in Burgess, his little sister— the one whom he saved before his death— and nothing else. He couldn’t remember seeing his— their parents, or any other relative for that matter.

Who said it won’t happen again?

Jack let out a sigh and hovered a hand over the golden box. He took a deep breath, which hitched in hesitation before pressing the button to unleash a fragment of memories.

_[IN THE MEMORIES]_

_“Woah, where am I?” Jack looked around to find himself still on the lake, but it wasn’t frozen, and he seemed to be floating in the water. “Burgess? Still? Why am I—“_

_“Jackson Ephraim Morgan-Overland, get back here!”_

_Jack grimaced at the yell. He turned around to find a 3-year old version of himself running through the grass beside the lake, his sapphire blue eyes beaming as his chocolate brown hair bounced under the sun. Little Jackson ran to the forest as he was chased after a 23-year old man._

_“No, Daddy! I don’t wanna!” Jackson laughed, moving towards the lake. “I’m not hungry! I wanna swim!”_

_“Jack, we will eat first, rest, THEN we’ll go swimming,” the man told the boy in a not-so-deep voice._

_“NO! I’m not hungry!” Jackson pouted._

_The man looked distraught, rambling his mind for an idea. Finally, one came to him, causing him to grin._

_“Hey, Jack, are you SURE you don’t want to eat what Mommy made?”_

_“Hmm…” Jackson tilted his head. “what DID Mommy make?”_

_“Fried pork chop with vegetable salad and some Jogan berry juice,” the man’s grin widened when a wide smile crept up on the little boy’s face._

_“YUM! I LOVE Jogan berry juice!” Jackson dashed back to their home._

_“What’s Jogan berry juice?” Jack wondered as he watched the father sigh and run after the child. “Well, whatever it may be, I seemed to love it when I was a human— woah! What the?!”_

_Suddenly, the memory swirled and shifted to another one. Jack held on to the wind to keep himself from falling. He blinked his eyes to find himself outside an old shack, in the middle of the night._

_“Huh,” was the only thing he could say as he approached the shack’s window to peer inside._

_He stared at the living room, where a now 4-year old Jackson sat on the floor, coloring on a piece of brown paper with paint made from mashed berries. The boy was talking himself, babbling non-stop with giggles as he colored in a picture of… a person? A baby? Jack couldn’t clearly see it, but it was definitely a human._

_“Jackson?”_

_“Daddy!” Jack looked up to where his younger self was looking up at and saw the same man— his human father, apparently— enter the room._

_“It’s time for bed, Jack,” the man gently told the boy, kneeling down to meet his son’s eye level._

_“But… Mommy tucks me in at night,” little Jackson whined._

_Jack chuckled at the complain. He didn’t really expect his younger, human self to react like that. He was a ‘Mommy’s boy’, wasn’t he?_

_“I know Mommy tucks you in every night, Jack, but right now, Mommy’s sick,” the man spoke to the child with a small smile._

_“Mommy sick? I wanna see Mommy!” Jackson got up on his feet immediately._

_Jack sighed. He had DEFINITELY been Mommy’s boy._

_“No, Jack, NO,” the man grabbed the boy by the shoulders. “If you go to Mommy now, you‘ll get sick too. Do you want Mommy worrying over you being sick?”_

_“… no…” Jackson sighed and sat back down. “But… I don’ want Mommy being sick!”_

_“I’ll take care of Mommy, but I need you to go to bed first,” the man scooped the child up in his arms then he took him to his (Jackson’s) room. “I’m sure that by tomorrow morning, Mommy will be ALL better,”_

_Jack followed them, flying to the window of his old bedroom. The door swung open, and the father and son entered, with a now sleepy Jackson._

_“Promise?” The boy yawned as he was set down on his bed._

_“Promise,” the man set the blanket on his son and kissed his forehead. “I love you, Jackson,”_

_“Love you too, Daddy,”_

_Jack felt his heart break as the man turned off the flame of the lamp and left the room. The Winter spirit watched his younger self let out another yawn before snuggling his blanket and pillow into slumber._

_He had such a loving father about three centuries ago. A home that he could call his own, no matter how small it was._

_It was all perfect._

_“Why couldn’t I have lived longer?” He hissed, trying to suppress the tears from falling._

_As if on cue, the whole memory swirled and shifted again. Jack raised his hands up to balance himself as the scene changed._

_“I hate when that happens,” he mumbled to himself before looking around to find himself back in the daylight, but this time, it had a little cold breeze while flowers bloomed all over the grass. “Huh, guess it’s Spring time,”_

_He turned to find the shack again, but just as he was walking to approach it, the door opened with a bang._

_“TIME TO FIND THE EASTER BUNNY!”_

_Jack winced at the loud voice as his 5-year old self dashed out of the house, wearing a homemade brown rabbit costume and holding a basket full of carrots._

_“Jackson, wait for me!” The man rushed out after the boy, looking quite tired as he grabbed his hyperactive son by the arm before turning back to the house. “We’ll be heading to the village for the hunt, Ezra!”_

_“Be back before lunch, Tristan!” A lighter voice of a male came from inside the house, and Jack was flabbergasted._

_His mother was… a male?_

_“We will!” The man, Tristan, responded._

_“Bye, Mommy!” Little Jackson waved his apparently-male mother goodbye then he pulled on his father’s grip on him. “Come on, Daddy! I wanna see the Easter Bunny and prove to friends that it’s really a bunny!”_

_…what?_

_Jack’s jaw dropped as he followed the pair down the path through the forest. What did his younger self mean by ‘proving the Easter Bunny was indeed a bunny’?_

_“Jackson,” Tristan had a frown on his face as he spoke. “you can try all you want, but some people are just too closed-and-narrow-minded to believe the fact that the ‘Easter Hare’ is actually an Easter Bunny,”_

_“But I wanna meet him!” Jackson pleaded. “PLEASE, Daddy! I LOVE the Easter Bunny!”_

_Jack didn’t know whether to be shocked or confused. Had he always loved Easter and Bunny? How long had he had this ‘love’ for the Pooka? He really wished he knew the answers to his questions._

_Tristan didn’t seem to think maliciously of it, since the boy was still a kid back then, and smiled. “Don’t worry, Jack. We’ll meet the Easter Bunny. In fact, he already met you when you were just a little baby,”_

_“He did?!” Jackson’s eyes widened in amazement._

_“HE DID?!” Jack gave the same reaction as he gasped. Why hadn’t Bunny told him? Did he even remember him? Sure, it had been over three hundred years since this memory, but still!_

_“He did,” Tristan nodded. “It was your first spring, and your Mommy and I wanted him to meet you. He became a great friend to us thanks to your Mommy,”_

_“WHAT?!” Jack was horrified. His mother and father were friends of Bunny’s?! Could that memory get any stranger?!_

_“I wanna meet him again, Daddy!” Little Jackson jumped for joy._

_“Okay, but we have to be quiet,” Tristan hushed the child. “We don’t want to disturb him in his work,”_

_“Okie,” Jackson gave a quiet nod and let his father lead him off-path._

_Jack followed them, not needing to be as quiet since he couldn’t really disturb his own memories, as they went through the wild parts of the forest._

_They soon made it to the trees near the village, where the egg hunt was going to be held. Parents and children were getting ready, each with empty baskets._

_Tristan didn’t go with them. He gently pulled on his son’s sleeve and dragged him to a tree. He carried his son up in his arms then he looked around._

_Jack could tell his younger self was confused about what was going on, but at least he knew who the man was looking for; Bunny._

_Soon, two grayish-blue ears popped out from the trees, and down came the huge Aussie Pooka._

_Jack blinked as he observed the Guardian of Hope from top to bottom. He didn’t really look any different from the present time. Maybe a little more stressed out than now, but it was probably because he had less believers during the past._

_“Woah…” the Winter spirit turned to his younger self with a smile so wide that he looked like he was going to explode._

_“Hey, Tristan,” the Pooka greeted with a smile then he went down to greet the child. “This little ankle biter must be little Jackson,”_

_“DADDY, EASTER BUNNY KNOWS MY NAME!” Little Jackson squealed._

_“Yes, he does,” Tristan chuckled before looking up at the Pooka. “Nice to see you again, Aster,”_

_‘ASTER?!’ Jack’s jaw dropped again. He didn’t even KNOW Bunny had another name besides, well, ‘Bunny’._

_“I got some time to kill before I gotta head over to hide more googies,” Bunny— well, Aster— smiled down at the pair. “Where’s Ezra?”_

_“Cleaning up the old shack, but he’ll be here soon,” Tristan then turned the boy towards Pooka. “Hey, Jack, isn’t there something you want to give to the ‘Easter Bunny’?”_

_“Oh yeah!” Jackson held up the basket of carrots. “I have carrots! You like carrots, Easter Bunny?”_

_“You can call me, Aster,” Aster grinned and ruffled the child’s hair then he gently took the basket. “And thanks for the carrots, little Jackie,”_

_Jackson giggled in excitement, waving his arms out frantically and joyfully. Tristan and Aster laughed at the boy’s reaction._

_Jack felt like his jaw was still wide open as he watched the three disappear into the forest. The surroundings swirled all over before the place faded into darkness._

_[EXIT MEMORIES]_

Jack gasped, pulling his head back as if he had awoken from a dream. He stared down at the box in his hands, panting.

“Woah…” was all he could say before he shook his head out of trance.

He grabbed his staff with his free hand and called on the Wind to fly up from the frozen lake. He looked up and was surprised to see the sun about to rise.

“Guess that took longer than expected…” he sighed and rubbed his head, feeling a little dizzy from lack of sleep.

He placed the memory box back in his hoodie then he started heading towards his tree to get a good nap. As he did, something caught his eye. He halted to a stop and turned to it.

“Wait, is that… it can’t be…” he flew towards what he saw and gasped at the sight.

“… my old home…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah! Suspense! Not sure how many people are reading this, but I sure like this ^^ See ya next chapter!


	3. Questions, Answers… And More?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I NEED TO INPUT MORE TRIZRA MOMENTS IN THIS T^T But on the plus side; Jackrabbit/Frostbunny interaction was heightening XD
> 
> Also… OC TIME! It’s only ONE, promise!
> 
> Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN RISE OF THE GUARDIANS AND STAR WARS REBELS. If I did, gayness will mostly happen.

The old shack was worn out, parts of the ceiling, roof and walls wrecked with acid rain, storms and any other natural phenomena. The furniture were all mucky, dusty and broken. From the stuffy couch to the now three-legged table, it looked like no one had ever lived in there for centuries.

Well, no one HAD ever lived there in about THREE centuries, so that explained why the place was a wreck.

Jack hovered over the place before finally settling in on the floor. It was a little rough and dirty, but since no one really cleaned the place up, it was no surprise.

He dragged his fingers over the wooden table, the feeling of nostalgia chilling down his spine. He let out a sigh and let go then he turned and entered the rooms, looking around and about.

There were three bedrooms; one fairly big and could be considered the Master Bedroom while the other two were nearly as big as a normal bedroom. One was decorated with old wooden fairies pinned to the wall while the other was full of old wooden bunnies.

Jack didn’t need to guess whose room belonged to who. His sister would most likely be the fairy fan. He, on the other hand, was an obvious fan of the Easter Bunny as a kid.

His parents, however—

Jack felt his throat dry up as he gripped the door frame of the large bedroom. He let out a shaky breath, his hands trembling.

His parents. They were both males. One was his father, and one was his male mother.

How was this possible? Males couldn’t reproduce like females can. Had he and his sister been adopted? How come the other male was his ‘mother’? He never got a good look on his male mother, but he kinda looked like his father with his brown hair. Maybe he and his sister were his father’s children only? No, he was too close to his male mother for the other man to be a step, plus he and his sister were 6 years apart. In the memory, he and his male mother had been there before his sister was born.

How was it possible then?

He fell to his knees before he could stop himself. He inhaled a sharp breath, choking on it briefly then he pushed himself back on his feet. He let his staff help him to stand properly, letting out a shaky sigh.

“Why can’t things be easy?” He muttered, shaking his head.

He let the Wind help him up from the floor then he turned to leave when he saw a piece of paper fly from underneath the small an old drawer. He picked it up and looked down at the picture.

He wish he hadn’t.

Immediately, he crumpled it and stuffed it in his pocket before dashing out of the house, unable to see the pair of silver-golden eyes that had been spying on him the whole night…

X

A cold breeze entered the Warren, and Aster shivered.

He had woken up early to watch over and paint his eggs. He was out in the field of the Warren, with the two huge, Sentinel Egg Golems, the colorful river stream and the little googies running around to prepare for the upcoming Easter the following year. (2015)

Of course, Aster had been waiting for Jack to arrive. The Winter spirit may be annoying and can be a bit of a brat, but he was the only one that could de-stress the Pooka and make him smile and relax for a long time period. Not that the rabbit would admit how he felt around the youngest guardian.

“Oh bloody hell.” Aster hissed the moment he realized that he had painted the egg a frosty white, in the shape of a flake.

It was no surprise that he could paint what he felt and what he thought. It was natural from an artist like himself, but it wasn’t ‘the best’ whenever it exposed his hidden feelings, just like his attraction for a certain Winter spirit.

Speaking of the devil…

“Hey, Frostbite,”

“Hey there, Kangaroo,” Aster felt his ear twitch at the tone of the other’s voice.

Something didn’t feel right.

The Pooka turned to see Jack enter, the temperature of the place instantly dropping at his presence. The young spirit had a small, forced smile on his face as he landed on the clear spot in front of the Spring spirit.

An awkward moment of silence came in between them. The Winter spirit seemed a little out-of-it as he sat down, setting his staff down on the ground before giving the other guardian a wider, now-tired smile.

“How’s your day?”

“Uh, good, I guess,” Aster narrowed his eyes at the boy. “How ‘bout you? You look a little…”

“…exhausted?” Jack let out a forced chuckle. “Yeah, I didn’t get much sleep last night, but I’m fine. Pass me a brush, Cottontail. I wanna paint too!”

“… right,” Aster wasn’t convinced by the Winter spirit’s answer, but he passed him the brush anyway, along with some paint bottles. “As long as you don’t freeze the googies then you can color ‘em anyway ya want,”

“M’kay!” Jack dipped the brush in a bottle of paint and took one of the eggs in his cupped hand.

Aster stared as the other painted, his hand subconsciously painting the egg in his hand while he kept an eye on the frosted child. He observed how the boy painted with different colors, washing the brush after each color and dipping it in another paint bottle. The movements were slow, which wasn’t much of a surprise, considering what the other spirit just told him about not being able to sleep much the previous night, but it was far different from the look on the boy’s face.

Jack looked distracted, but at the same time, he seemed to be focusing on what he was painting. His eyes were distant while he stroked the egg, his hand visibly shaking as if he would drop the fragile thing.

As if he would fall over and faint because of lack of sleep.

“Frostbite, did you get ANY sleep AT ALL?”

“Huh?” Jack snapped out of his concentration to turn to the Spring spirit. “Um… maybe?”

Aster raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t, did ya?”

“… maybe…?”

Aster huffed and let the egg leap out of his hand. He then stood up from his spot and walked towards the other, crossing his arms.

“Alright, what’s wrong, Jackie?”

“What do you mean?” Jack looked up at him in confusion, causing the googie in his hand to leap out and run off after the first, with paint unfinished.

“You look like you’re about to pass out, mate,” Aster scoffed. “What happened last night?”

Jack blinked at him before staring at the ground. “… nothing…”

Aster was getting irritated. He clenched his fists and hissed, gritting his teeth at the boy, who still refused to look up at him. The Pooka took a deep breath and reached back to take out the Stress Carrot from the party. He gave it a squeeze and released a shaky breath as he felt his irritation slowly leave him.

At least the present had it’s uses.

Aster sighed in relief and slowly kept the Stress Carrot. He then turned back to the Winter spirit and growled.

“Come on, Frostbite,” he grabbed him by the shoulders and yanked him up.

“Wha— Hey!” Jack struggled in the Spring spirit’s grip. “Let go!”

“I can’t make ya tell me what’s goin’ on, but I can make ya sleep before you pass out,” Aster snarled.

“Stop! Let go!” Jack scowled. “Why do you care, anyway?!”

“I care ‘cause when North finds out that I’m lettin’ ya stay up all night without a wink of sleep, he’ll skin me alive!”

“Put me down, Cottontail! I’m fine, really!”

“Tell that to the bags under ya’r eyes,” Aster scoffed.

“Bunny, let me go!” Jack tried to pull away. “Put me down!”

Aster ignored him as he dragged him through the field and towards his home in the Warren. He opened the door and carried the squirming boy through the living room. He set him down on the couch and made sure he sat still.

Jack harrumphed, crossing his arms as he pouted, staff still in his hand. His presence and attitude caused the room temperature to drop even more, causing the Pooka to shiver, but he ignored it and stared down at the other spirit.

“I’m not going to sleep,” Jack stubbornly huffed before sighing and turning away to avoid eye contact. “Not that I can…”

“Then tell me what happened,” Aster pulled on a chair and sat in front of the Winter spirit.

Jack pulled on his hoodie, putting his feet up to sit down more comfortably on the cushion beneath him. His staff laid against his arm while he twiddled with his fingers.

“I… I couldn’t sleep last night,”

“That’s obvious,” Aster snorted.

“Yeah, well,” Jack suddenly tensed up, biting his bottom lip. “since I couldn’t sleep, I decided to peek into my memory box to see what else I missed from the brief preview from 2 years ago. I did, and I saw three memory fragments, each including my bonding time with my father, but each of them giving me more questions than answers,”

“How come?” Aster raised an eyebrow.

“Well, they gave three different scenarios that showed what I like and how my life used to be,” Jack answered. “One was during summer, when I was 3. Turns out that I absolutely LOVED swimming. Couldn’t even eat unless I swam first. What confused me, though, is when my younger self pointed out his— er, my… Or is it ‘our’? Eh, never mind. Anyway, the memory gave away a favorite drink. Something called ‘Jogan berry juice’? Do you know what a ‘Jogan’ even is?”

“Nope, not a clue,” Aster shook his head. “I’ve seen an’ tasted many fruits and veggies before, but Jogan? Don’t think so,”

“That’s what confused me, but it seemed that my parents and I knew the fruit and the juice so well,” Jack sighed with a shrug. “The next memory fragment I saw was at night time. Turns out that I used to love painting with mashed berries on paper. My father tucked me in that night and told me that… that he loved me. It… It made me wonder… why I didn’t I live long enough to see him… see him…”

Aster’s eyebrows furrowed in concern the moment he heard a quiet sob coming from the boy. He advanced towards him, settling his paws on the frosted child’s shoulder before moving them around, embracing him as much as he could.

Jack’s eyes widened at the gesture, but he didn’t pull away. Instead, he returned the hug, burying his face onto the Pooka’s soft fur. He nuzzled against the warmth, something he always wanted despite being a spirit of Winter, and let out a shaky, slightly icy, breath before gently pulling away.

“S-Sorry,” he spoke in a whisper.

“Nah, mate, it’s fine,” Aster patted his back and gave him a small smile. “I know how it feels to lose… you know,”

“R-Right, sorry,” Jack pulled his head down, a frosty blush appearing on his cheeks. “As much as I’m grateful that Manny saved my life, and I’m now living as a immortal spirit, I wish he never too away my memories and made me invisible to everyone I used to know…”

“Like I said, it’s okay,” Aster let out a sigh. “Must’ve been rough for the past 300 years, huh?”

“A little,” Jack smiled a little, but it faltered as the last memory returned to him. “Hey, Bunny?”

“Yeah?”

“You never told me you had a first name other than Bunny,”

Aster was silent for a while, his left ear twitching in confusion until he finally realized what the other meant. The Pooka frowned.

“Who told you? Sandy? Tooth?”

“Actually… you told me,” Jack swallowed.

“No, I didn’t.” Aster had to stop himself from growling. Even when they met at the Easter Sunday blizzard back at ‘68, he never told the Winter spirit that he had a first name.

“You did,” Jack insisted after a hesitating breath. “More than 300 years ago…”

“When?” Aster narrowed his eyes at the boy. “Explain,”

Jack took a deep breath before beginning to explain. “I was 5 years old. My father took me to the village for an Easter Egg Hunt, but since I wanted to meet you so badly, we took a detour and ran to the forest to find you. My parents were friends of yours and had shown me to you when I was just a baby, but I didn’t remember, so Father took me to meet you. I was so happy to meet you that I gave you a basket full of carrots, and in return, you told me to call you Aster,”

Aster carefully took in everything the other guardian told him. He racked his brain to recall the scene. It had been so long, and he had met thousands of kids in his life, but… the carrots. Many kids had seen him and tried to catch him while parents don’t see him at all, and no kid had ever given him anything, except—

“No,” The Spring spirit leaned closer towards the boy, hoping it wasn’t who thought it was.

He looked over at him from top to bottom, glancing at the familiarity of his eyes and his facial features. Suddenly, a feeling of nostalgia came to him, sending him back towards his chair, in which he gripped tightly with one paw while the other helped him to balance himself and kept himself from falling over.

“J-Jackson…?”

Jack looked up at the Pooka with both eyebrows raised. His mouth was agape in surprise.

“So… you remember me…?”

“L-Like… Jackson-Jackson?” Aster’s eyes screamed with panic and shock. “As in… Tristan’s-little-ankle-biter Jackson?!”

“Uh-Huh,” Jack nodded with a smile and a small wave. “Hey, Aster,”

With that, the Pooka blacked out.

X

“Jamie, Sophie, behave for your new babysitter, alright?”

“Yes, Mom,” Jamie Bennett nodded as his little sister, Sophie Bennett, stood beside him, holding his rabbit doll. “Who IS our new babysitter?”

“An old friend of our family,” Mrs. Bennett smiled and opened the door.

Outside stood a young woman with peach skin, and long hair as dark as dark chocolate. She had an orange dress and long golden pants with black shoes. A bright smile beamed beneath her glasses as she had a yellow bangle in each wrist.

“Hi, Mrs. Bennett!” She greeted, immediately embracing the woman in her arms. “It’s good to see you again! How are things?”

“Very fine, thank you,” Mrs. Bennett returned the smile then she turned back to her kids. “Jamie, Sophie, this is Garaia Fernil, your new babysitter,”

Jamie blinked as he stared up at the stranger, who didn’t look older than an average teenager. Garaia let go of the woman and gasped at the sight of the children.

“KIDDIES!” In a flash, she rushed to the duo and squeezed them into a hug. “Oh my GOSH! You two are SO cute! You two look SO like your ancestors!”

“Um… thank you?” Jamie stared at the teenager in confusion.

“New friend! Yay!” Sophie, on the other hand, hugged back, hanging her arms over their new babysitter’s neck, even as she pulled away.

“Sophie, behave,” Mrs. Bennett sighed, turning back to Garaia. “If there’s anything you need, Garaia—“

“I’ll be fine, Mrs. Bennett!” The teenager waved her off as she carried the girl in her arms. “Go, Go! Enjoy your night! I’ll make sure they’re in bed before bedtime!”

“Alright, I’ll go,” Mrs. Bennett nodded then she kissed her children goodbye before taking her leave.

Jamie watched his mother leave then he turned back to their babysitter to see her cuddling Sophie. His sister didn’t seem to mind and giggled in response

“Lookie, I have Easter Bunny!” she cried out, holding out the rabbit doll to the other.

“You do, do you?” Garaia raised an eyebrow with a grin.

“Yes, Ms. Garaia,” Jamie leaned over to her with a nod. “He’s real, you know,”

“Oh, I know he is, Jamie,” Garaia smiled down at him. “The Easter Bunny is very real. And don’t call me ‘Ms. Garaia’. Just call me… Aunt Gia,”

“Aunt Gia! Aunt Gia!” Sophie exclaimed. “Easter coming! Bunny coming!”

“Let’s go prepare for his visit then!” Gia grinned. “I want to see the Easter Bunny too!”

‘But… how?’ Jamie narrowed his eyes at their new babysitter as she walked to the kitchen with his sister.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ta-da! I introduce OC! Gia is actually me but in story form, so I’m basically joining the action! XD
> 
> And yes, Bunny fainting is part of my script ^^ I love the fainting part! Always love fainting parts XD


	4. Explore With Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More Trizra moments AND more Jackrabbit/Frostbunny moments! Gosh, I’ve been WAITING FOR THIS XD
> 
> Also, I think I’ve tagged in Pitch to this story. You’ll see how important he is to this, and you’ll see my AU’s version on why he wanted Jack on his side from the movie. Maybe… next chapter? Or Chap 6 or 7? Yeah, I’ll try that XD
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN RISE OF THE GUARDIANS AND STAR WARS REBELS. If I did, gayness will mostly happen.

“Bunny? You okay?”

Aster groaned at sound of the voice as he opened his eyes. His vision was a little blurry, but he managed to make it clear again when he rubbed his eyes. He found himself on the floor of his home, with Jack kneeling down beside him and staring down at him worriedly.

“F-Frostbite…?”

“Yep, right here, Cottontail,” Jack let out a chuckle and helped the Pooka sit up. “You okay?”

“I… I think so,” Aster hissed at the pain at the back of his head. “What… What happened…?”

“Um… I’m Jackson Overland, son of Tristan Overland…?” Jack reminded with a gulp.

“Oh that’s righ— bloody hell?!” Aster moved back, horrified. “Are ya serious, Snowflake?! How in—?! Why in the—?!”

“Settle down, Aster, settle down,” Jack tried to calm the Spring spirit. “I… I’m still trying to recall everything myself, remember? Lost my memories 300 years ago?”

“O-Oh, r-right…” Aster took a few cleansing breaths until his breathing was steady. “So… all of this is new to ya, isn’t it?”

“Pretty much,” Jack sighed. “I… honestly don’t know if I’m mentally stable to handle more, though…”

Aster frowned, but he understood how the boy felt. If it were his memory box, he wouldn’t be able to open it either. He knew seeing the destruction of his kind in the hands of Pitch all over again would be too much for him, and if he would be just as mentally unstable as Jack, he would be hunting down the King of Nightmares for sure.

”You don’t have to if you don’t want to, you know,”

“I… I know,” Jack gave a slow nod. “It’s just… I want to, but the same time… I feel… afraid. Afraid to know about my family. Afraid of the truth,” (sounds familiar? From SWR Season 1, episode after Empire Day XD)

“The truth‘s always scary,” Aster agreed with a nod. “but… ya know that you don’t have to do this alone, right? I mean, you can always go to me and the others if you need help,”

“Wait, really?” Jack’s eyes lit up with hope.

“Really, Frostbite,” Aster smiled and set a hand on the Winter spirit’s shoulder. “You’re one of us now, remember?”

“THAT I can remember, loud and clear,” Jack giggled, a soft frosty blush appearing on his cheeks as he set his hood down.

“Good. I don’t need to keep remindin’ you then,” Aster snickered.

“So… explore with me?”

Aster’s ears dropped flat, feeling his cheeks heat up at the request. Thank the universe that he was a furry Pooka buck, or he would have been a blushing mess.

“Um, sure, yeah,”

“Really?!” Jack was beaming now, his icy blue eyes glistening with relief.

“Yeah, Snowflake,” Aster had to stop himself from choking on his throat, which seemed to have dried up as the boy stared up at him expectingly with those… ahem, adorable eyes. “Sure. I’ll be glad to help ya explore,”

Jack tensed up a bit as he considered the answer and nodded. He moved to sit beside the Pooka, his legs stretched out in front of him as he took out the memory box from his hoodie. He took a deep breath before carefully reaching out to take the Spring spirit’s large, furry hand in his smaller one. He paused a bit and looked up to wait for a reaction.

Aster didn’t take back his hand. He WAS surprised, though. His ears flinched at the contact, and he bit his bottom lip while his other hand clenched nervously. Still, he didn’t make any move to take his hand back from the cold, yet comforting, hold.

Jack took this as a good sign and smiled, relief washing over him. He gently pulled on the hand and let it hover over the memory box before pausing again.

“You don’t… have to do this if you don’t want to, you know,”

“If it’ll make ya feel better then I want to do it,” Aster assured him.

Jack’s blush deepened, crawling up to his ears. Feeling his own ears beginning to frost up, he turned away from the Pooka and focused on their hands.

No, scratch that. He DEFINITELY should not focus on their hands. His cheeks and ears were already frosty enough from the closeness. He didn’t need to be distracted by the… PHYSICAL contact like holding hands.

Nope, not focusing on it. Not ever.

After taking a deep breath, he slowly lowered both his and Bunny’s hands down his memory box. With a touch from both fingers, their surroundings dissolved, and the memory fragments appeared.

_[IN THE MEMORIES]_

_The duo woke up in the cold snow. Aster stood up and shivered. Jack grinned._

_“Too cold for ya, Cottontail?”_

_“Very funny, ya bloody show pony,” Aster huffed, removing the dust from his fur. “Where are we, anyway?”_

_“Don’t you mean ‘when’?” Jack raised an eyebrow. “I mean, I know WHERE we are. We’re in Burgess, my old home, but I don’t exactly know WHEN are we…”_

_“Winter, most possibly a few weeks before Spring,” Aster estimated as he looked around to observe the place._

_“Oh, great,” Jack groaned. “I bet my younger self will be ecstatic,”_

_“Why is that?” Aster turned to him, confused._

_“Found out last night that my favorite holiday is… Easter,” Jack gulped, the blush appearing on his face again. “Which means—“_

_“BUNNY! BUNNY! HOP, HOP!”_

_The two winced at the young, childish voice, and they turned to see 6-year old Jackson run out of a shack and into the snow with rabbit-shaped coats, including a snow cap with ears and a pair of pants with a fuzzy rabbit tail._

_If Jack wasn’t embarrassed before, he surely is now._

_The sight of the young Jack— his first closest believer— made Aster coo in awe._

_”D’aww, I almost forgot how ADORABLE you were when you were just a little ankle bita’,”_

_“Sh-Shut up!” Jack glared at the Pooka._

_“Jackson, what did I say about running out of the house without me?!”_

_The pair jumped at the familiar voice, and they turned to find young Jackson staring up at Tristan. The man had his arms folded as he glared down at the child, who just laughed._

_“Daddy, I’m waiting for Aster!” Jackson exclaimed._

_“Jack, it’s still Winter,” Tristan shook his head. “Aster won’t be here until Spring time,”_

_“But I MISS him!” Jackson whined._

_Aster and Jack stared at the father and son for a moment before the Pooka burst out laughing. The Winter spirit hissed at him._

_“Bunny—!”_

_“BWUHAHAHAHA!”_

_“Can you STOP laughing, Cottontail!” Jack scowled._

_“Pfft… if I knew you wanted me so badly, Frostbite, I should’ve stuck around! BWUHAHAHAHA!”_

_“SHUT UP, you little—“_

_“Tristan! Jackson!”_

_The duo (Jack and Aster) froze the they turned to see a man as slim as Jack come out of the shack, with long midnight blue hair tied up in a cap, two bangs showing up, and eyes of sapphire. He had two scars on his left cheek while he wore a big warm coat over himself to protect himself from the snow and cold. His abdomen was large, like that of a pregnant woman, and he stroked his mittened hand over it like it too._

_Jack felt like he was about to faint at the sight of his male mother._

_“Mommy! Mommy!” Little Jackson ran to the man, his own pair of sapphire eyes shimmering with delight. “Look! I’m the Easter Bunny’s little helper!”_

_“You sure are, kiddo!” The man laughed and ruffled the small, chocolate brown locks. “You just LOVE to see Aster in Spring, don’t you?”_

_“Ezra, what are you doing out of the shack?!” Tristan had a frown as he approached the other, his partner. “The baby—!”_

_“Tristan, your sister was born in the middle of a battle field,” The other man, Ezra, huffed. “Don’t tell ME where to go and not go,”_

_Jackson giggled. “Daddy made Mommy mad!”_

_“Yes, he did,” Ezra grinned at his partner mischievously. “And since he did, you, my boy, will be the first to feel your sister kick,”_

_“YAY!” Jackson cheered them he placed a hand on his male mother’s abdomen with a gasp. “She kick, Mommy! She kick!”_

_“Hey!” Tristan pouted childishly and wrapped an arm around his lover. “When can I get a turn?”_

_“Hmm… maybe next week?” Ezra snickered._

_“Ezra!”_

_“It’s a punishment, Tristy,”_

_“Ha-ha, Daddy in trouble!” Jackson laughed, and soon, the two joined in, the child’s laughter too contagious to resist._

_This was enough proof for Jack that his… male mother DID give birth to him and his sister. It gave Jack the reassurance of not being adopted, but it didn’t settle in with his stomach._

_It just seemed… unreal._

_“Woah, easy there, mate,” Jack gasped as the Pooka held him back to prevent him from falling over. “You alright?”_

_“Y-Yeah…” the Winter spirit gulped, turning away. “I-It’s just that… my mother… he’s…”_

_“A guy? Yeah, I know,” Aster chuckled. “I first met him when he was pregnant with you. Thought he was a shiela. Gave me a shock when he told that he was a bloke. Nearly shocked the fur off of me,”_

_“Did he tell you HOW he got pregnant?”_

_“Nope,” Aster shook his head, neither of them noticing the memory beginning to swirl and dissolve into another one. “I assumed that he was a doe, but he told me that he wanted to tell me when you were old enough to understand,”_

_“And WHEN would I be old enough?” Jack growled. “I died when I was 15!”_

_Aster was shocked. Jack had never told them that he died young. He didn’t even tell them that he DIED. Well, the Pooka and the other guardians KNEW he had been human, but they had assumed that he became a guardian by chance, not through death._

_The silence became so tense that both of them wanted to break it. They turned away from one another before realizing that it was no longer Winter. They looked around and found themselves in the old Burgess village._

_“Wow, what a change of scenery,” Aster groaned._

_“Yeah— Gah!” Jack jumped when a person walked through him. “Argh, even with three hundred years of having people not see you, I STILL can’t get used to that,”_

_“Woah!” Aster leapt to the side when a human went through him. “When are we, anyway?!”_

_“That’s a good question…” Jack looked around._

_“You’re a freak!”_

_Both guardians grimaced at the accusation, and they turned to see his 10-year old self being surrounded by a group of kids. Little Jackson had his father’s shepherd staff (yes, it’s the same one Jack’s wielding) in his hand as he tried to defend himself._

_“I’m not a freak!” he shot back._

_“Your parents are both guys!” One bully spat out. (homophobia at it’s worst)_

_“Yeah!” Another bully agreed. “I bet you and your sister are adopted!”_

_“I bet they were orphaned because they’ve always been freaks!” The third bully cackled. “That’s why they’re family of freaks!”_

_Suddenly, the gravity felt heavy, and something began to rang through Aster’s ears, which shot up to find out what it was. He looked around and was confused to find nothing._

_“Hey, Snowflake, can you—“_

_“ARGH!” Aster‘s head swiveled to see the Winter spirit on his knees, his hands on his ears as he trembled._

_“JACK!” The Pooka immediately ran to the boy’s side. “What’s wrong, mate?!”_

_“… head… hurts…” Jack hissed before looking up with wide eyes. “Uh… Aster…?”_

_“What is it…?” Aster’s eyebrows furrowed in concern as he turned to follow the other spirit’s eyes._

_The duo watched in horror as little Jackson’s grip on the staff tightened while his free fist clenched in rage. His eyes suddenly flashed gold, his teeth gritting in fury._

_“You can insult ME and mock ME all you want!” He snarled as many objects around him began to hover. “But you can NEVER EVER insult my FAMILY! EVER!”_

_He sharply pointed the staff to them, and all the floating objects came flying towards the bullies. The boy’s screamed and ran away, the objects chasing them as they fled._

_“AAH! HELP!” they cried out like cowards while they headed to their homes. “Freak boy’s trying to kill us with his weird powers!”_

_Jack and Aster, on the other hand, were bewildered by the scene. Their jaws dropped at what had happened as they froze in the spot, not bothering to move while they let the memory continue._

_A small gasp came from behind them, and they finally turned to see Tristan and Ezra looking down at their son with horrified expressions. Immediately, Ezra handed his sleeping 4-year old daughter in his arms to his husband then he rushed to his boy, kneeling beside him._

_“Jack?” The blue-haired male gently cupped the child’s cheeks, causing the boy to turn his head to him. “Jack, it’s me. It’s Mommy,”_

_“M-Mommy…?” Little Jackson blinked, tears starting to prick his eyes, which had not changed from gold. “Is that… Is that really you…?”_

_“Yes, it’s… it’s Mommy,” Ezra’s voice was shaking, but he pushed away his nerves and continue to whisper softly. “Listen to me. Listen to my voice. Let go of your anger. Breathe in… breathe out… Release it into the Force…”_

_“The… Force…?” Jack felt his voice weaken as he spoke in confusion._

_Jackson’s breath was hitching before he shook his head and looked around to find more objects levitating over him and all around them. Panic overtook him, and his eyes widened, his golden eyes now showing fear to replace rage._

_“I… I can’t control it!” He sobbed, letting go of his staff as he trembled. “Mommy, help!”_

_Ezra swallowed but forced in a smile. He slowly set a hand on the boy’s hair, patting it gently to distract him. He then lifted his other hand and hovered it over the child’s face._

_Jack and Aster watched, still confused as another deafening ring came through their ears. It felt calmer than earlier, but it still gave the Winter spirit a headache so tense that the Pooka had to hold him back to prevent him from passing out._

_“It’s okay,” Ezra told his child, brushing his hand over the boy’s face. “Everything will be okay. You are calm now,”_

_All of a sudden, Jackson fell into a trance, his eyes half-idled and reverting back to blue as everything around him fell to the ground._

_“It’s okay.” he said, his voice obviously showing the trance. “Everything will be okay. I am calm now.”_

_He then started to sway forward, and Ezra caught him in his arms before the other could fall._

_“Ezra…?” Tristan came forward, holding their still-sleeping daughter tightly in his arms. “What happened…? What did you do…?”_

_“He lost control of the Force,” Ezra sighed as he stroked the boy’s cheek, snapping him out of the trance. “You alright, kiddo?”_

_“M-Mommy…?” Jackson looked up at him weakly._

_“Yeah, it’s me,” Ezra chuckled, his throat dry and rough as he forced in another smile while he held him close. “I’m here, Jack. Right here. Nothing’s going to take me away from you,”_

_“OVERLANDS!”_

_Jack and Aster jumped at shouts of hatred and anger as they all turned to see the bullies and each of their parents. The adults’ eyes gleamed in fury, glaring down at the family of four as they gritted their teeth._

_Tristan stepped forward to defend, but a hand his shoulder made him stop and turn to Ezra, who stood up and gave him a smile. He motioned Jackson to move to the other man’s leg then he calmly took a step forward towards the other parents._

_“Yes? Is there a problem?”_

_Jack was bewildered. How could his mother stay SO calm at a situation like this?!_

_“You Overland freaks have gone too far!” One of the adults scowled._

_“Your kid attacked ours!” Another accused._

_“MY kid attacked YOUR kids?” Ezra raised an eyebrow, his hands settling on his slim hips. “That doesn’t seem right. As I remember correctly, your kids LOVE to bully mine,”_

_“Bullying’s fine,” the third scoffed. “Attacking’s another thing,”_

_“So… you support bullying, but you HATE attacking?” Ezra didn’t look amused. “Or is it just okay if YOU’RE kids bully and attack, but it’s not okay if others bully and attack them?”_

_“We’re protecting our children!” One of the mothers huffed. “We can’t CONTROL them. They’re kids!”_

_“You all CAN control them, but neither of you want to,” Ezra crossed his arms. “You don’t want to take care and discipline your children. I guess it makes sense since neither of you can control yourselves in making them anyway,”_

_The adults gasped, jaws dropping at the statement. Tristan himself was shocked but amused, placing one hand on his mouth to keep himself from laughing out loud. Ezra snickered at the reactions and turned around._

_“If you’re done being your irresponsible, close-and-narrow-minded selves then we can go,” he dismissed, walking towards his family. “I have dinner to make. Come on, Jack, Tristan,”_

_“Whatever you say, dear,” Tristan sent a chuckle towards the other parents before walking behind his husband._

_“Y-Yes, Mommy,” Jack held the blue-haired man’s hand and followed after his parents._

_The memory began to fizzle and swirl as the family took their leave. Aster blinked for a while then he turned to help the Winter spirit up._

_“You okay, Frostbite?”_

_“Y-Yeah… I think…” Jack’s body trembled as he got back up on his feet. “I just… Bunny, do you know what just happened?”_

_“Erm… kinda,” Aster’s nose twitched uncomfortably. “I’ll explain it to ya once we’re out of here,”_

_“Wait, we aren’t out yet?” Jack looked around and found themselves inside the shack, nighttime peeking from an open window._

_The inside of the shack was different from how it was in the present time. The place was full of light and life, lots of pictures scribbled by children pasted on the wall, along with wooden sculptures on each table. There were closed wooden doors in each room as the tables and chairs looked clean and tidy._

_Jack felt a wave of nostalgia. His memory had been erased, sure, but looking around the place… his old home… it made him feel like he never left. Like he never died._

_“Big brother!”_

_Both spirits turned to find a little girl running out of a room, golden brown eyes shimmering as her midnight blue hair-laced dark brown hair bounced in the speed of her run._

_“Woah, woah, slow down!” After her came Ezra, grabbing the girl and hoisting her up on his shoulder. “Take it easy, Sasha. Your brother needs to rest,”_

_Jack tilted his head at this before swiveling to find his younger self at his bedroom door, looking weak and sheepish, almost shameful._

_“M-Mom…” Little Jackson caught his mother and his sister’s attentions. “I… can you tuck me in…?”_

_Ezra smiled and placed little Sasha on the ground. He ruffled her hair and let her pout before running back to her room then he turned back to his son._

_“Can’t sleep, Jackson?”_

_“Uh-Huh…” Jackson looked down on the ground, avoiding his mother’s eyes._

_“Okay then,” Ezra moved towards him and picked up the 10-year old then he carried him inside._

_Aster and Jack followed the pair to Jackson’s room. The Pooka’s eyes widened as he looked around the room, his gaze settling on the wooden bunnies all over the room. He snickered._

_“Woah, Snowflake, I knew you liked Easter, but I didn’t know you were such a fan,”_

_“Yeah…” Jack’s face went frost blue, turning away from the Spring spirit. “I still do like Easter. Why else do you think we have more history than me to the other guardians?”_

_“Guess this explains that,” Aster chuckled._

_They soon stopped talking and focused on the scene in front of them._

_Ezra set Jackson down on the bed, helping the boy enter the blanket. Once he did, he looked up at his child and frowned._

_“Jack…”_

_“…I’m sorry,” Jackson sniffled, and he looked back up to reveal his misty, tearful eyes. “I… I just couldn’t stand them!”_

_“Jack, I know,” Ezra sighed and placed a hand on his shoulder. “but you need to be more careful,”_

_“They were insulting our family!” Jackson hissed. “They keep saying that we’re freaks! I… I can’t STAND them, Mom!”_

_“Don’t worry, Jack, I can’t stand them nor their parents,” Ezra chortled. “It’s not really the kids that are the problem. Most of the time, it’s their parents teaching them stuff,”_

_“I… I think Dad’s mad at me,” Jackson frowned and hugged his knees._

_“He’s upset, not mad,” Ezra reassured him. “But if he is then he’ll have to talk to me about it first. You know we can never get mad at you for getting pissed at those nasty bullies. A little disappointed, but it’s only because you lacked control,”_

_“Dad wouldn’t even ask if I was fine or not,” Jackson sadly said. “He usually does…”_

_“He does, does he?” Ezra forced a smirk, but both spirits could see him suppressing his urge to burst. “I’ll go have to talk to him about that,”_

_“Hey, Mom?”_

_“Yes?”_

_“Are we really… freaks?” Jackson stared up at him with a sad frown. “I mean, there’s no one like us before. You got pregnant with me and Sasha, Dad’s got blasters that seemed so advanced to the guns of the other hunters, and you, Sasha and I can wield the Force. If we’re not like the villagers then… what are we?”_

_Jack was thinking the same thing. What WERE they?_

_Ezra appeared to hesitate. He held a breath, trying to find an answer before letting out a sigh. He moved closer to the boy and patted his head with a smile._

_“We’re not freaks, Jack, but we are different,” he told him. “Yes, no one in the village is like us. That’s why we live OUTSIDE the village. I… you won’t really understand it now, but you will when you’re older. As for our abilities, do you know what age I was when I was introduced to the Force?”_

_“No…” Jackson shook his head._

_“I was 14, turning 15,” Ezra gave a bitter smile. “I had been adopted by a family that were just as freaky and just as broken as I am. My adoptive father taught me that I was strong in the Force, but back then, I couldn’t understand how to wield it without overusing my emotions. Well, I still don’t,”_

_“Are we… never going to be able to control the Force?” Jackson suddenly looked scared, causing his bedside table to shiver uncontrollably._

_Ezra noticed this briefly, but he didn’t react. Instead, he set a hand on the boy’s shoulder._

_“Yes,” he answered. “No one can fully control the Force. We shouldn’t seek to control it, though. We should control our EMOTIONS and UNDERSTAND the Force,”_

_“I… I don’t get it…”_

_“When you’re older, you will. I promise,” Ezra leaned over and pressed a kiss on his son’s forehead. “Goodnight, ner adiik (my child),”_

_“Goodnight, buir (mother),” Jackson yawned as he watched his male mother stand up and leave._

_Jack and Aster also watched as the memory began to fade away slowly into darkness._

_Then they arose in light._

_[EXIT MEMORIES]_

The duo found themselves back in the Warren, on the floor, where they had chosen to enter the memories.

Aster was too shocked to speak. Tristan and Ezra— two of the only parents who could see him and the only ones to treat him like a normal friend— were the parents of Jack, who had been Jackson, the little boy who had admired him more than anything. He couldn’t believe it, but the memories were proof enough for him to believe it.

Jack was horrified, exhausted of all the suspended truth being kept from him as a child. It worsened when he died and when Manny took away his memories. Now that he was getting his memories back, it didn’t give him any answer. Just more and more questions. It made him mad, irritated, annoyed, betrayed, and most of all, tired.

He was so tired that he couldn’t even hear Aster scream his name as he fell over, letting darkness surround him.

X

Jamie couldn’t sleep. Not even when Gia got him and his sister ready for bed and even read a bedtime story for them. He managed to fake his sleep until the teenager was out of his room.

Sophie, however, had fallen asleep only two minutes into the story. Lucky her.

Jamie sighed as he tossed and turned in his bed. His mind was too busy, drifting up into his thoughts.

Gia was different from any babysitter they had, and it was unknown if it was a ‘good’ different or a ‘bad’ different. She seemed to really, REALLY believe in the existence of the guardians. There was no fraud in her voice as she spoke to him and Sophie, even when she joked that she wanted to meet them, she sounded sincere.

A true believer.

Well, Jamie wouldn’t think that bad if it wasn’t for the fact that there was something about her that made him shiver.

Her shadow was abnormal. It was all spiky and in the shape of some kind of demon cat with dark wings. Her eyes shone through her glasses in a way that was abnormal, and her bangles? Her golden bangles didn’t look normal. They seemed normal in the outside, but there was a dark shimmer on it that sent shivers down his spine.

Finally, Jamie couldn’t take it. He got up from his bed then he walked out of his room. He was walking through the halls when he heard whispers and hisses from the kitchen.

Alerted, he ran. He ran to the kitchen and hid behind the wall. He gulped before looking inside to brace himself.

Gia stood by the kitchen window, tapping her foot in frustration as she stared down at one of her bangles. The golden things were shimmering blue and revealing some sort of holographic image.

“Aaand he fainted,” she slapped a hand on her forehead, shaking her head. “Well, at least Bunny will be keeping an eye on him. Guess curiosity kills the cat? Ugh, Jack really needs to talk to a psychologist or something. Maybe North or Sandy could help him out even…”

‘Jack? As in… Jack Frost?!’ Jamie placed a hand on his mouth to hide a gasp. ‘How does she…?! What?!’

“Well,” Gia sighed and kept her bangle, straightening her hair. “I’m sure Pitch will be happy to know that Jack’s getting his memories back, even if none of the memories shown were about him, but eh, don’t really care,”

Suddenly, a strange burst of red magic surrounded her. Jamie covered his eyes from being blinded by the bright light it gave away. When it ceased, he took his arm off his vision, and his eyes widened at the sight.

In the kitchen stood Gia, but her form was different. She was a cat, her fur marigold as the lenses of her glasses had darkened. Her dress was dark purple, with skirt short and web-shaped. She had orange shorts and a pair of long dark purple boots while demon cat tail swung and flicked around. Her bangles were no different, golden and shiny as ever, but in her current appearance, they looked powerful on her.

Jamie stared at her, questions flooding his mind. What WAS she? What was she doing here? What did she want with him and Sophie?

Gia, on the other hand, ruffled her still-long yet slightly-curly dark chocolate brown hair. She messed with the orange choker band around her neck before turning to face the open window.

“Guess I got to go tell Pitch that Jack is exploding his memory box…”

‘Wait, SHE WORKS FOR PITCH?!’ Jamie really had to restrain himself from gasping aloud, afraid that the teen was going to hear him.

Much to his further horror, two demon bat wings sprouted from her back. They fluttered open and close for a while then she hovered over the floor before zooming out of the house, THROUGH the open window.

Jamie watched as the demon girl left his his house. He was petrified by the truth, confused by Gia’s intentions, and worried for Jack and the other guardians.

His legs moved on his own. Before he knew it, he was running back to his room and grasping on one of the emergency snow globes Jack had given him. He took a deep breath then he tossed it to the ground, erupting a bright swirling light…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, my OC takes her shine! Btw, she’s a demon spirit, resurrected from the Demon Toro Mei (don’t know if you guys know her, but a friend of mine told me all about her. Idk if she’s a demon follower, though ^^)
> 
> Tune in next chapter! XD


	5. Hidden Truth And White Lies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m not going to promise that Pitch will have a scene here, but I hope he does! He has an importance in this story, and you’ll see how! Can you guess who’s the real villain, though? And how Ezra and Tristan ended up on Earth? XD
> 
> Btw, I’m sticking to the fact that the Pooka are an alien race from a different planet and were attacked/killed by Pitch. I think I made that perfectly clear in the summary and the first chapter, but just in case I didn’t, here is a reminder. :)
> 
> As for Pitch, let’s say he was an alien human General from another planet before he became Pitch but was sent to Earth after killing the parents of Tsar Lunar (I think that’s the name of Manny, Man In the Moon. Just got those from the Internet. Not sure if it’s true, but in this AU, I’ll just roll with it). As I remember correctly, his daughter is Seraphina Pitchiner, a.k.a Mother Nature.
> 
> Also… MORE JACKRABBIT/FROSTBUNNY!
> 
> Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN RISE OF THE GUARDIANS AND STAR WARS REBELS.

The first thing Jack felt was warmth.

He groaned, feeling his back against something soft and comfy. It surprised him, honestly. As he remembered, he fainted on the floor. Where was he now?

“Jack?”

The sound of the voice— HIS voice— gave the Winter spirit relief. It assured him that everything was fine. He was SAFE.

“A-Aster?” He slowly opened his eyes to see the worried Pooka staring down at him. “W-What happened…?”

“We looked through your memories, then when we left, ya passed out,” Aster explained, helping the boy to sit up. “Ya gave me a scare there, Frostbite. You okay?”

“I’m… I’m not sure, really…” Jack sighed with a shudder. “I… I don’t understand anything anymore,”

“I get it. It was too much info to take in one go, even for me,” Aster nodded in understanding. “Maybe we should take it in, one by one,”

“Let’s start with the first memory,” Jack spoke up with a wince. “Like… was mom even human? He got pregnant and gave birth to us like… like…”

“…a doe,” Aster chuckled.

“But… he’s male!”

“A buck gives it’s seed, an’ a doe carries it, but they don’t necessarily need to be a specific gender,” Aster explained. “I myself am a buck, but I had a brother who was a doe, and a sister who was also a buck,”

“But… you’re alien,” Jack pointed out. “No offense, Bunny, but… humans don’t have the same classification,”

“I know that, ya drongo,” Aster rolled his eyes. “but it’s the only logical explanation I got. If humans don’t have the same classification then I’ve got no clue how the hell you came to exist,”

“Are there even such thing as… human aliens?” Jack wondered.

“Beats me. Not a lot of Pooka explore off-world,” Aster shrugged. “Only some explore to ally ourselves with other species, but even then, we didn’t see a lot of humans that aren’t from Earth except for—“

He stopped mid-sentence, clamping his mouth shut as he tensed up. Jack blinked in confusion, but just as he was about to ask, the Pooka shook his head.

“Neva’ mind. I’ve neva’ seen a human in space before,” he stated.

“Are you sure—“

“YES, I’m sure.” Aster snapped with growl.

Jack was caught off-guard, backing up from the other spirit with wide eyes. The Pooka seemed to realize his mistake, his emerald eyes softening.

“Sorry,” He let out a sigh as he turned away. “It’s… It’s nothin’, really. Just… some hateful old memory. Nothin’ important, trust me,”

Jack didn’t look convinced, but he let it slide. He DID trust the Guardian of Hope, after all. Couldn’t be THAT big of a secret now, could it?

“If you say so…” he moved forward to sit comfortably again. “Anyway… let’s move on. The second memory? Explain what happened,”

“What do you mean?” Aster turned back in confusion.

“The whole Force thing,” Jack reminded. “You told me that you’d explain it once we’re out,”

“…oh, right,” Aster cleared his throat and sat down comfortably on the wooden chair. “The Force, or Ashla, as some species call it, is the whole galaxy itself. It’s everywhere. Those who are sensitive to it are powerful ‘cause they can wield it an’ allow it to connect to other creatures, like wild life. It’s actually a blessin’ if you’re able to wield it, but it’s got its cons,”

“Like… emotions?”

“Yep,” Aster nodded. “When you’re angry, like what happened with you’re younger self, you lose control of the Force an’ start to use Bogan,”

“Bogan?” Jack raised an eyebrow. “What’s that?”

“Dark Side of the Force,” Aster sighed. “Bad people use it to wicked stuff. They can use it to force people into doin’ stuff they don’t want,”

“How… How do you know so much of the Force, Aster?”

“Knew a lot of Pooka who were Force-sensitive, one even became my best friend,” Aster winced. “Unlike other species, though, they don’t leave our home planet an’ are trained by Pooka experts of Ashla. They become knights an’, later on, masters, taught to defend all an’ train more. They were much different from the soldiers an’ fighters of each Pooka Clan since they only fight to protect their clan while the knights fight for the whole planet,”

“Oh,” Jack slowly nodded. “I see, but if there were so many knights and masters, how did your planet… you know…”

Aster’s expression darkened. “Pitch. All of it was his fault. He somehow found a way to weaken the knights an’ masters then he killed the royal family before headin’ over to destroy the clans. The last soldiers to be slaughtered were from my clan, and I had no choice but to watch everything and everyone perish…”

Jack frowned, but he knew he couldn’t say anything to comfort the other. He just fell silent and watched as the Pooka’s eyes began to water, causing the Spring spirit to wipe off the tears.

Suddenly, something appeared in the Winter spirit’s mind.

****

**_[VISION]_ **

****

**_Screams. All horrified screams. Some were from the humans fighting while most were from citizens running away in hysterics._ **

****

**_They were entering huge ships with some sort of Phoenix symbol on it as a girl wearing colorful armor from head to toe guided them inside. Beside her was a dark-skinned girl, wearing dark armor from chest to toe, revealing her shaved head as she helped most of the seniors enter without getting trampled. With them was another dark-skinned girl, about 3 years old, with full armor like the first, as she guided the orphaned children inside._ **

****

**_An old guy with long white beard wearing a similar armor but with white and blue ran towards the enemies, a gun out and firing while he let out a battle cry. Two old guys accompanied him, one bald and beardless while the other had grey hair and a short grey beard and mustache. Two children came after them, one blonde and one brunette, about the age of 5, each with the same weapon as the three as they fought._ **

****

**_More Phoenix-tainted ships came, along with dozens of ships, each having another symbol on them to symbolize that they were the enemy. Each of the ships opened fire on one another._ **

****

**_Suddenly, there was a yell then a huge explosion came, along with another orchestra of screams…_ **

****

**_[END VISION]_ **

“JACK!”

Jack gasped as the vision faded away and left his head.

“Frostbite?!” Aster had his attention towards the other spirit, concern written on his face. “You alright?!”

“I… y-yes,” Jack blinked his eyes back to reality while nodding his head. “I… I’m fine, I promise,”

Aster’s nose twitched in doubt. He stared at the boy’s icy blue eyes, which was full of fear, worry, confusion and panic. But why? What did he see?

“I’m FINE, Aster,” Jack hissed, shifting uncomfortably under the Pooka’s gaze as if he could read his mind through his eyes. “Don’t worry about it,”

“Mate, ya blacked out for 3 solid minutes, an’ now you’re tellin’ me that you’re fine?! I tried to call your name 5 times!”

“I… sorry,” Jack sighed, looking down at the ground. “I just… I’m so confused right now, and—“

“What did you see?”

“Wh-What?” Jack looked back up at the other spirit.

“What did you SEE?” Aster repeated, with more pressure this time. “Come on now, Snowflake. I know you saw somethin’. You wouldn’t have zoned out if you didn’t,”

“I… it’s nothing, really,” Jack shook him off. “Just a late morning daydream,”

Liar. Aster could practically see it through the Winter spirit’s turned eyes. He didn’t like when the boy lied about being fine, but he wasn’t the one to judge. He himself wasn’t fond of sharing his emotions nor any truth about his well-being, so he just let it slide.

“Fine, but I have a right to worry,” the Pooka huffed. “From what we saw, you’re sensitive to the Force. My best friend told me that they can have these visions that can make ‘em either see the future or see what’s happenin’ to someone, somewhere from far away. Either way, it mostly ain’t good, an’ the visions are usually warnings,”

“I… I don’t think it’s a vision,” Jack bluffed, but he knew that, deep down, it was.

“I’ll trust your word on that, for now,” Aster sighed in defeat.

“I… I think… I think I want a break. From this,” Jack acknowledged to the memory box in his hand. “I mean, I appreciate what Tooth gave me, but… but I think I should give it back. I just… I need time…”

Aster looked over at him with sympathy before nodding. He got up and sat beside the other spirit.

“Alright, tell ya what, Frostbite,” he began. “I’ll keep you’re memory box here, so that you can get it back whenever your ready to dive in again. How does that sound?”

“Hmm…” Jack thought about it for a moment then he grinned. “Well, it MAY give me an excuse to visit the Warren every day…”

“Oh bloody hell, Jack…” Aster face-palmed. Internally, however, he would be glad to see his Snowflake appear in his home every now and then.

“What? It’s true!” Jack laughed. “Alright, Bunny, it’s a deal!”

Aster smiled and gently took the memory box from the Winter spirit. He ran off to hide it in a secret compartment in his domain then he rushed back out to see Jack already standing, with his staff to help him up.

The boy noticed him return and smiled smugly. “So… are we hanging out now or what?”

Aster snorted, rolling his eyes. This kid was too cute to resist!

“Yeah, let’s go, Snowflake,”

X

Flying through the night sky had always been so relaxing for Gia. The Wind blew against her wings and hair, sending a pleasant shiver down her spine as she glided down and soared up into the clouds.

She soon made it to the deepest part of the forest. She landed on the ground with a small thump then she looked and walked around to find what she was looking for.

A broken old bed stood in the middle of the forest, with an endless hole beneath it’s wood. Gia took a step forward to it and felt the sense of fear and darkness.

“Must be the entrance to Pitch’s lair,” she muttered before carefully crawling below the bed to enter into the hole.

She found herself flying down, down, down, all the way to the depths of the Earth. She flew down below, the tunnel growing darker and darker while her handle glowed brighter and brighter to help guide her through the darkness of the tunnel. When she finally cut through to the exit, her wings moved up to a stop as she braced for a landing.

Her feet met the ground. She soon realized that she was in another tunnel, one leading to a darker exit. She walked the rest of the way and found a huge, horrific, dreary castle, with horse-shaped nightmare sands at most corners, as if guarding the place itself. She snorted.

“Definitely Pitch’s lair,”

She fluttered her wings and flew to the entrance. The nightmare sand planned to intervene, but she simple flew past them and ignored their growls. She made her way to the castle’s center, where a huge globe with glowing lights stood in the middle of the dark, empty cages swinging from the ceiling.

The room was empty, excluding the dark shadows and traces of nightmare sand on the ground. The King of Nightmares was nowhere in sight.

“Where in Sith Hells is he?” Gia grew annoyed as she flew down beneath the huge globe.

“Gia Mei.”

Gia grunted, rolling her eyes before turning to face the man himself, still looking weakened from the battle two years ago. “Pitch,”

“What are you doing here?” Pitch Black scowled, making his way down to the teen from the globe. “Don’t you see that I’m wallowing in my defeat and my own fears down here?”

“Your face says it all,” Gia shot back. “Oh, and you can’t wallow in the fears that you barely have. Your greatest fear already came true 300 years ago when he—“

“I KNOW THAT!” Pitch roared out, which caused the girl to silence herself. “CAN’T YOU SEE THAT I KNOW MY GREATEST FEAR HAD COME TRUE?! I PROMISED HIM THAT I WOULD PROTECT HIS CHILDREN AND LOOK AFTER THEM AS IF THEY WERE MY OWN, BUT I COULDN’T EVEN PROTECT HIM FROM DANGER!”

“Pitch, calm down—“

“THEN TSAR LUNAR KEPT HIS SON FROM ME AND HIS FAMILY!” Pitch ranted on. “FOR 300 YEARS! WITH NO MEMORIES WHATSOEVER!”

“Pitch, Manny SAVED him,” Gia corrected.

“IS ‘ERASING HIS MEMORIES’ NECESSARY WHEN HE ‘SAVED’ HIM?!”

Gia snarled. “Kozmotis Pitchiner Black, will you PLEASE calm down—“

“YOU DARE CALL ME THAT?!” Pitch bellowed with such power that the teen was taken back in shock. “NO ONE HAS THE RIGHT TO CALL ME BY THAT NAME! ONLY HE… H-He…”

The King of Nightmares lost his voice mid-sentence as he slumped back onto the floor. The demon spirit shook her head and knelt down in front of him.

“Pitch…” she sighed. “I know you blame Manny for what happened with Jack—“

“He turned him AGAINST me, Gia.” Pitch hissed. “Give me a good reason why I should NOT blame him for what he did,”

“Jack doesn’t know what you promised to his mother, nor does he remember you as… you know,” Gia winced but tried not to show it.

“It doesn’t matter now,” Pitch shook his head. “He’s a guardian, one of those who protect children from the likes of me. It doesn’t matter what happens anymore,”

“Will it help to know that he’s looking through his memories with Aster?” Gia offered him a smile.

“I saw him look through his memories last night,” Pitch harrumphed. “then he found his old home by the frozen lake,”

“Jack found the shack?” Gia stared at him, amazed. “Why didn’t you tell him anything?”

“My job is to watch over him.” Pitch glared at her. “If I show up, what do you think he will do, hmm?”

“Contact the Guardians. Right…” Gia groaned. “Pitch, Jack’s confused about how he came to be, angry that there are many things his parents would never tell him, and overwhelmed by everything he had done in the past. He needs help, Pitch. YOU are the only one that Ezra trusted with their family history,”

“I’ve done what I could, Gia!” Pitch yelled out. “I’ve fulfilled my promise to Ezra and watched over Sasha, but when she married into another family, she stopped believing in me! I’ve watched over Tristan and made sure he didn’t lose his sanity as much as I did, and he frosted himself to sustain his life, thinking that Ezra will miraculously return from death! I’ve done what I can, Gia! I’ve done what I can to help their family! And it’s obvious that Lunar doesn’t WANT me NEAR Jack!”

“How can you know that when YOU are the only spirit to know Jack’s life before he died?!” Gia cried out in frustration.

“If he wanted me near that frost spirit then he would have let me!” Pitch angrily bickered. “But NO! Lunar entitled me a danger and kept Jack AWAY from me! He made me and the rest of his family believe that Jack was GONE!”

“Because he had a long-term plan for Jack!” Gia argued.

Pitch stared at her as if she was crazy (she always is, anyway). “How… How do you even know that?!”

“I thought Jack was dead too, Pitch!” Gia spat out. “Thought that Ashla (The Force) and Lunar wouldn’t pity him any mercy after sacrificing himself for Sasha! But lo and behold, I hear Manny calling for me, telling me that it was time for Jack to know who he was!” Her voice soon softened, and she let out a sigh. “And he wants you to help, Pitch,”

“I doubt that.” Pitch turned away from her. “Now go bother somewhere else, or I swear that you will join Ezra in the depths of hell.”

Gia shook her head and stood up to take her leave. As she approached the door, however, she turned back to the spirit of darkness and whispered words that would be her death sentence.

“Ezra is alive, you know,”

Those words caused something in Pitch to snap. He stood up stiff, his eyes piercing gold as the nightmare sand horses came to him.

“GET. OUT!”

The nightmares soon rushed to her, in a tsunami of black sand.

Gia gulped and dashed out, wings fluttering to pick up the speed as she used her bangles to teleport herself out of the underground kingdom and up into the clouds.

She let out a choked gasp of fear before flying down to the city. She sat on one of the rooftops of the buildings and released a sigh, leaning back on the hard roof. She stared up at the moon and let out a scowl.

“Now look at what you‘d done,”

[[What I have done?]] Man In the Moon answered, his response barely a whisper but still loud enough for the demon spirit to hear. [[I have not done anything yet.]]

“Yeah, and mind-erasing Jack was your best option,” Gia rolled her eyes.

MIM didn’t answer. The only response was an intensive glow of the moon.

“Great, now you ignore me,” Gia shook her head and crossed her arms. “That’s being typical, Manny,”

[[Frost needs Pitch’s help.]] MIM spoke. [[And Pitch needs Frost to move on.]]

“Ezra’s alive,” Gia stated. “You said it yourself last time we talked. How do you know?”

[[The spirit of Ashla and I felt their deaths. At the same time, at the same hour, of the same day.]] MIM replied. [[Bridger’s sacrifice for the sake of this planet was admirable. Frost’s sacrifice for the safety of his sister was just as admired. It is rare for two people to have themselves killed to save others at the same time on the same day, let along relatives at a separate place.]]

“Still not a reason to erase Jack’s memories,” Gia pointed out. “And where the hell is Ezra, Manny?!”

[[All will be revealed in time.]] With that, the moon returned to it’s regular shine.

Gia took a deep breath, two fingers pinching his forehead to ease the stress in her mind. She paid no attention to the moon and looked up at the starry sky.

Suddenly, she felt the blinking sensation and held her arm up to see her bangles blinked the same colors as the Northern Lights. She smirked at the sight.

“Guess Jamie remembered to use the emergency snow globe in his room…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! Pitch has a scene! YASSSSS!
> 
> Yeah, I know Pitch Black was Kozmotis Pitchiner, and just so you know, it was Ezra who dubbed him Kozmotis Pitchiner Black.
> 
> More mysteries and so little time XD


	6. The Spirit Who Knew Too Much

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, this is getting good. I’m already sure how this ends, but the process on getting to the Ending sure is tough DX
> 
> And when am I going to make the ship officially together? Maybe later. You guys will know soon ^^ Very soon…
> 
> Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN RISE OF THE GUARDIANS AND STAR WARS REBELS.

_“Uncle Koz! Uncle Koz!”_

_“Oh, hello little Jackson. What’s the matter?”_

_“I made this picture of you, Uncle Koz!”_

_“…oh, that is… wonderful. But… why do I am I wearing… golden armor…?”_

_“Daddy says you used to wear shiny armor! He see it in history book!”_

_“Oh? Is that so?”_

_“Uh-huh! And Mommy says you look brave and handsome wearing shiny armor!”_

_“…well, as long as your mother thinks that then I guess it’s fine…”_

Jack snapped out of his daydreams the moment he felt his frost on the egglet he was holding. He looked down and panicked, clearing away the frost.

From across him, Aster had been watching the boy. He watched as the spirit lost himself in his thoughts, painting subconsciously and frosting the little googie in his hand. The Pooka was about to snap him out of it to help the egglet when the other suddenly snapped back into reality and began to clear the frost away.

He saw something. Aster knew he did. The distant look in his eyes gave it away, and the Pooka didn’t like it.

“Got anotha’ vision, Frostbite?”

“H-Huh?” Jack turned to him, looking startled.

“Can’t fool me, mate,” Aster shook his head with a frown. “What did ya see, Snowflake?”

“I… I don’t know, really…” Jack winced as he turned away. “I think it’s… a memory? S-Something like that…”

“Guess your memories are startin’ ta come back naturally,” Aster chuckled.

“But… I don’t know if I understand what I saw…” Jack sighed. “All was so blurry…”

“Alright, but do you remember what you HEARD?” Aster questioned.

“…kinda,” Jack shrugged. “I… I was with someone. It was a man… I called him my ‘uncle’ then I gave him a drawing… of him, I think…”

“Huh,” Aster had his eyebrows raised on surprised. “No name or anythin’?”

“Koz,” Jack answered. “I called him ‘Uncle Koz’, and he called me little Jackson,”

Aster froze in the spot, grimacing inwardly at the name.

Koz. It wasn’t the full name, he could tell, but it was still a name. A VERY familiar name…

“I’m… I’m afraid to ask, but… do ya remember your uncle’s full name?”

“Hmm…” Jack shut his eyes, a hand on his head before shaking his head. “Nope, sorry, Bunny. Can’t remember anything else than ‘Koz’. Why?”

“No reason,” Aster slapped a hand down his face, shaking himself from the heavy thoughts weighing on his head.

‘No, Aster, it can’t be him… He… He’s gone… An’… An’ he’s a goddamn traitor…’

Suddenly, a couple of egglets rushed to the duo. The googie in Jack’s hand jumped down to join it’s group then they ran in front of Aster. The Pooka looked down at them with concern as he watched them getting his attention.

“What is it?”

The egglets started to push the Spring spirit up, telling him to stand up and hurry.

Jack read their actions well and stood up from his spot. Almost immediately, the deafening ring from the memory returned through his head and ears, causing him to hiss and grasp his white locks.

“Aster, something’s wrong,”

Aster’s ear twitched in alarm, hopping to his feet. The googies then ran off, with the two spirits following them from behind at top speed. They were led to a huge globe full of lights. An egg-shaped glass stood below the globe as it glowed in various colors.

The colors of the Northern Lights.

“Uh oh,”

X

“We’re here!” Tooth entered the Globe Room of Santoff Clausen, with Sandy not far behind on his cloud.

“Good, Good!” North clasped his hands together. “Now we wait for Jack and Bunny,”

[“What’s going on, North?”] Sandy signed as a question mark appeared above his head.

“Do you remember Jack’s first believer, Jamie Bennett?” North replied. “Jack gave him emergency snow globe in case Pitch returns. He came here earlier to tell me that Pitch has new henchman. A young teenage demon spirit, who is disguising as human babysitter,”

“Pitch is back?!” Tooth gasped. “What does he want this time?!”

“That iz for us to theorize when Jack and Bunny get here,” North sighed.

Not sooner had they spoken, a tunnel appeared on the floor, and out came the two last guardians. Aster had his arms crossed as he stepped forward while Jack gripped his staff, falling behind the Pooka’s steps.

“What’s going on, mate?” The Spring spirit questioned.

“Pitch iz back,” North replied.

“WHAT?!” Jack shrieked. “How?!”

“We don’t know,” Tooth admitted.

“Your believer contacted us, Jack,” North explained. “He told us what he witnessed, and Pitch iz no longer alone,”

“He’s got a henchman workin’ for ‘im now?” Aster’s eyebrows furrowed. “That ain’t good,”

“Iz teenage girl, demon spirit. Disguised herself as babysitter to the Bennett Family,” North went on. “She knows that… that Tooth gave Jack his memory box back. She flew off to tell Pitch news,”

[“That’s not good,”] Sandy signed, a sad face appearing on his head.

“We gotta get her and make sure she ain’t spillin’ much about the memories,” Aster scowled.

“Where do you think she might be?” Jack asked.

“Well,” North turned to grab a scroll from the nearest desk. “based on time zone of Burgess, it iz early Winter morning. Still Christmas break. Children should be playing outside, and as babysitter, this demon spirit might be with them. If not, we can ask Jamie where she might have gone,”

“I’ll go to Burgess,” The Winter spirit stepped forward, gripping his staff. “I know where the kids usually play,”

“I’ll go with you, Frostbite,” Aster offered. “You’ll need back-up, just in case,”

“Good,” North nodded. “Jack and Bunny will go get the spirit. The rest of us need to stay and watch the globe, in case Pitch makes attack on other children,”

“Alright,” Jack gave a nod then he grinned at the Pooka. “Race ya there, Cottontail?”

Aster smirked. “Never race a rabbit, mate,”

“I doubt it!” Jack then flung himself out an open window, the Wind catching him to fly.

“HEY!” Aster growled then he tapped on the ground twice before disappearing into a tunnel.

X

“SNOW DAY FUN!” Gia screamed, followed by the cheers of the children running to the snowy park.

She beamed at the joy of kids running around, making snowmen and having snowball fights. She clapped her hands cheerfully and happily jumped.

She loved snow days. She grew up in a place with no snow whatsoever. The first time she had felt snow was when her parents were gone, and she was left on her own. She didn’t, though. She was an happy-go-luck introvert, anyway (she gives joy to a crowd, but she loves to be left alone).

She watched over the younglings, running around and having fun. She looked around and frowned to see one child not having as much fun.

“Aw, Jamie,” she went near him, making him jump. “why aren’t ya playing with your friends?”

“I… I’m not in the mood,” Jamie fiddled with the zipper of his puffy winter vest, obviously not comfortable around the girl, but she ignored it.

“Not in the mood? Don’t be ridiculous, Jam!” Gia pulled the child into a tight hug. “Come on! Let’s play snowball tag!” She then turned back to the rest of the children. “HEY, KIDDOS! LET’S PLAY SNOWBALL TAG!”

“YAY!” The kids cheered.

“Um… snowball tag?” Jamie looked confused and unsure.

“The one who’s ‘it’ will use a snowball to tag someone,” Gia giggled before pulling the boy closer to whisper, “Lighten up, Jamie. We still got time before Jack and Bunny get here, you know,”

What she said made his blood freeze. He stared at her, eyes wider than the moon as she gave him a cheeky grin. His throat went dry before swallowing as much as he could.

Gia took this (in a playful way) as a sign to put him down. She then raised a hand full of snow and turned to the kids.

“I’M IT!” She cried out then the children ran off, screaming with happiness and excitement.

She ran off to follow, leaving Jamie behind.

The boy stood where he was placed, staring inquisitively at the girl, a.k.a the spirit that he KNEW was working for or with Pitch.

He couldn’t trust her, he had to know better. North had told him to be careful and be wary of her, but it was difficult when she was a teen with the mind of a child. It was like she was reliving a childhood she never had. (Sadly true)

But if that were the case, why was she there? If she had been with Pitch then where was she last time? She seemed to know what will happen at the exact time, in the exact place. How was that even possible?

His thoughts were interrupted, however, when a snowball hit him from behind. He jumped at the cold before turning and smiling to find a familiar face.

“Jack!”

“Hey there, kiddo!” Jack laughed, patting the child’s head. “How’s it going? Loving the snow?”

“I would,” Jamie sighed as he turned to the teenager running around with the other kids. “if it wasn’t for the fact that my babysitter is a demon spirit,”

Jack followed his gaze, and an eyebrow was raised at the sight of the cheering teenage girl. “Wait, SHE is the spirit with Pitch? And I thought she was just a tall kid!”

“She’s 15, and yeah, she’s the demon spirit,” Jamie nodded.

“Since she’s your babysitter, think you can get her to follow you to the trees over there?” Jack asked, pointing to the nearby forest.

“I’ll try,” Jamie gulped, but he managed a smile before running off to teenage girl.

He found Gia in the middle of making a snowman, with Sophie. Well, a snow-bunny to be more specific. Both girls were laughing, with his little sister squealing like tomorrow while their babysitter had a smile so wide that it could rival Sophie’s.

“And… done!” Gia placed sash-like rope around the snow-bunny. “Is this what the Easter Bunny looked like, Soph?”

“UH-HUH!” Sophie clapped her hands together. “Bunny! Bunny! Hop! Hop!”

“Yeah!” Gia giggled, placing her hands on her hand to imitate bunny ears as she began to hop on the snow. “Bunny! Bunny! Hop! Hop! Hop!”

Sophie laughed harder, knocking herself back on the snow. Gia joined in her laughter as she slumped down beside the child with laughter just as hard.

Jamie stared down at them, unsure if he was worried that Sophie was getting along with someone who was dealing with Pitch, or that he was worried that what he saw the previous night was just a trick of being sleepy but not able to get to sleep.

Still. He knew what he saw and heard, so why shouldn’t he try?

“Hey, Gia!”

“Huh?” Said teen sat up straight and beamed at the sight of the boy. “Oh, hey, Jamie! They here yet?”

Jamie stiffened. ‘Definitely a spirit working for Pitch. But how in the world does she keep KNOWING what was going to happen next???’

Gia took this as a ‘yes’ and got up on her feet. She took Sophie in her arms then she walked towards the boy.

“Lead the way, Jam-Jam,” she said with a smile.

“Um… okay…” Jamie gave her a weird look before walking off to the meeting point.

X

“Hey, Cottontail!”

“Rack off, ya bloody show pony,” Aster rolled his eyes as he popped out of his tunnel. “Got caught up with the coldness of the tunnels,”

“And you told me to ‘never race a rabbit’,” Jack smirked. “Guess I’ll keep racing you then… during winters, of course,”

“Knew you couldn’t handle racin’ in the heat,” Aster snickered.

“Either I get so sick that I faint into a coma, or I beat the Summer spirits to a cave and hibernate until the end of Summer,” Jack sighed. “All the seasons are great and all, but I think the Summer spirits are trying to kill me on purpose,”

“The Fall an’ Spring spirits don’t have a problem with you, that’s for sure,” Aster assured him. “The Summer ones just hate ya ‘cause you’re a Guardian, an’ they hate the cold,”

“Ah, yes, that must be it,” Jack groaned.

Aster chuckled, but before he could say any more, one of his ears shot up at the sound of footsteps. He then turned to see a familiar boy appear from the park.

“Jack! Bunny!”

“Jamie!” Jack patted the kid’s head playfully. “You’re here!”

“BUNNY!”

The trio turned to see a teenage girl holding Sophia in her arms. The blonde jumped out immediately and ran to the Pooka, who smiled and had his arms wide open for her embrace.

“Hey there, my little ankle bita’,” Aster cuddled the little girl.

“Bunny! You came before Easter!” Sophie cheered.

“Yeah, I did, didn’t I?” Aster smiled and ruffled the girl’s hair through her Winter hat. “Missed me much?”

“Uh-Huh!” Sophie nodded enthusiastically.

Jack chuckled at the sight then he turned to see the teenage girl smiling over at them. She noticed him looking and blinked in surprise.

“Oh, I’m sorry! Where are my manners?!” She then gave a quick bow. “I am Garaia Fernil, But you can call me Gia. You two must be the guardians Jack Frost and E. Aster Bunnymund,”

Both spirits were dumbstruck for a moment before the Pooka let out a growl, setting Sophie down. He then stomped towards the teen, who didn’t even flinch as she was approached threateningly.

Jack could see the daggers in the Spring spirit’s eyes and sighed. He stretched an arm in front of him, shaking his head.

“Bunny, let ME handle this,”

“Tsk, fine,” Aster huffed, crossing his arms. “but if she tries anythin’, I’ll be ready with a boomerang,”

“Aw, CUTE!” Gia squealed as she watched two interact. “When are you two getting together?”

“WHAT?!” The two guardians exclaimed, with the Pooka scowling and Frost boy blushing deeply.

“Oh, not yet then? Okie then,” Gia giggled at the reaction. “So, I know why you two are here—“

“Then you can explain why in bloody hells are you workin’ for Pitch!” Aster roared out.

Sophie gasped and ran to her big brother, a little afraid of the Guardian of Hope’s short temper. Jamie hugged her and pulled her to the side to not be in the way of any missed hits.

“Working for Pitch? That’s crazy!” Gia laughed. “I don’t work WITH him either. We’re just old pals, and I’m just the demon he kicked out of his lair after I told him that his little crush is alive, even after 300 years!”

“Then… how did you know who we were before you met us?” Jack raised an eyebrow.

“I’ve been to the Pooka home world before it was destroyed,” Gia shrugged. “I’ve seen and met a lot of Pooka warriors, your parents and clan included, Aster! And you were SUCH a cutie pie as a little baby Pooka…”

“Sh-Shut up!” Aster hissed.

“Ooh~ I wanna get a pic of that,” Jack snickered, earning a glare from the Spring spirit.

“Don’t you dare.” Aster narrowed his eyes at him with a snarl.

“Maybe later, Jack,” Gia waved off the topic. “Besides, I’m sure you’d LOVE to know that I’m BEST FRIENDS with your male mother Ezra, and that I’ve seen you and your sister when you were just little cutie babies! What’s more is that I was the one who helped your mother during both labors!”

“You… WHAT?!” Jack’s jaw dropped at the info. “How?! Wha?!”

“I’d love to continue this, but maybe not here,” Gia suggested. “People will think I’m crazier than I am already if they see me talking to spirits that they can’t see!”

“Fine.” Aster harrumphed. “We’ll head to Santoff Clausen,” He then turned to the children. “You two betta’ run off before your parents worry about ya,”

“NO.” Gia’s voice went serious as her eyes widened. “I am their babysitter. I’m responsible for whatever happens to them,”

“I… guess that’s fair,” Jack turned away to avoid looking at the teen girl claiming to know his mother.

“But they’ll be travelin’ with me in the tunnels,” Aster insisted, lifting the two carry on his back. “It’s safer,”

“Fair enough,” Gia clapped her hands, her mood switching back to happy.

Her bangles soon glistened a bright glow of purple, and her appearance changed in an instant. Her skin turned to golden fur, her human features transformed into those of a cat. A demonic cat tail appeared from her skirt while two bat wings sprouted from her back. She removed her hat, releasing her now-long and spiky hair.

“Alright, I’m ready to go!” She gingerly fluttered her wings before soaring up into clouds. “Race you slowpokes there!”

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**[MEANWHILE]**

“Captain Palleon,” a blue-skinned man spoke, his voice laced with stern and command as he stepped forward towards the huge window of the ship. “status update of the condition of the Chimera,”

“Still badly damaged, sir,” the captain of the ship, Captain Palleon, reported. “but the shuttles had been fixed up and are ready for departure,”

“Good.” The man nodded, his eyes still on the view of the planet below them. “Get ready the troopers. Lock in to Tristan Wren’s last location,”

“As you wish, Grand Admiral Thrawn,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun-Dun-DUN! And Thrawn made an appearance! Omg, YES! I can’t wait for his role in this story!
> 
> See ya guys soon!


	7. Waiting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really wanna hear your theories about the ending XD I won’t call you guys out on it, though. I just wanna see where your imagination goes ^^ And see how similar or how different it is from my imagination
> 
> Also, I have one postponed SWR/ROTG story to be posted soon, and I’ll be making another SWR/ROTG story that’s still in scraps. XD
> 
> Anyway… enjoy the chapter!
> 
> Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN RISE OF THE GUARDIANS AND STAR WARS REBELS.

The flight to Santoff Clausen was tense but not quiet. While Jack let the Wind carry him, Gia flapped her wings with a cheer.

“WA-HOO!” She cried out happily, doing loops and a spin in the air. “I LOVE FLYING THROUGH THE CLOUDS!”

Jack watched as she disappeared into the clouds before coming out, slightly soggy with rain water. He tilted his head in confusion, realizing that the water didn’t even faze her as she continued to fly with squeals and cheers.

As he did, hundreds of questions flooded into his mind. Who was this teenage demon spirit girl? How does she know him so well? Is she really best friends with his male mother? If she is then how did she have contact with Pitch? Why would she tell Pitch about his memories? How well did she know his parents? Where was she the whole time he was suffering 300 years of being alone?

His head soon began to hurt. His grip on his staff tightened as he grasped his head with a hiss.

‘Okay, too much questions.’ he thought, shaking his head. ‘Easy, Jack. Focus on one question at a time.’

“JAAACK!”

“Huh?” Said spirit looked up and yelped to see her flipped upside down and looking down at him with a smile. “Oh, MIM, Gia! Don’t SCARE me like that!”

“You looked too lost in thought to notice me approach,” Gia laughed as she flipped back to fly by his side. “Whatcha thinking about, though?”

“I…” What was he going to say? Which question should he ask? Would the question he’ll be asking too offensive?!

‘No, Jack. Breathe. Just… one question at a time.’

“Gia?”

“Yes?” Gia hummed.

“Can you… tell me how me and my sister came to be?” Jack questioned with a dry gulp. “You know, since mom was a boy and a human, so…”

“Oh?” Gia took a few moments to think about it before the smile in her face sunk and faltered. “… oh… Oh! Um… I don’t… I don’t think you’re ready to know that yet, Jack,”

“WHAT?!” Jack sent a dark glare to the other spirit. “Why not?! I’m more than three centuries old! How am I NOT ready?!”

“You overreacting makes it obvious already, kiddo,” Gia chuckled. “You need to calm down to handle the truth. There’s so much about your parents you don’t know, Jack, and not all of the information are acceptable,”

“Like WHAT?” Jack challenged with a frown.

“You could barely accept the fact that you have the ability of the Force,” Gia pointed out.

Jack opened his mouth to counter, but he clamped his mouth shut immediately, letting out a groan. “…fair enough. How did you know, anyway?”

“My bangles,” Gia flashed the golden bracelets in front of him. “They act as security cameras. Your mom used to have these too, you know. We each had spy cameras to watch over others and each other,”

“But… didn’t we live in the late 1600s? How did you guys get your hands on modern technology?” Jack was now more confused than ever.

“Advanced technology, actually,” Gia snickered. “I told you that there’s more to your parents that meets the eye. No one knew but me and your Uncle Koz. Not even your old buddy Aster knew,”

“That reminds me… who is my ‘Uncle Koz’?” Jack asked.

“Uhm…” Gia winced. “Someone who… you wouldn’t want to meet. Not right now, anyway. You wouldn’t want to know since… well… you’ll know when you’re ready,

“WHEN AM I READY?!” Jack demanded.

Gia didn’t answer. Instead, she looked back at him with sad eyes before forcing out a chuckle.

“You sound just like your mother,” she told him then she turned and flew off.

Jack was taken back by the statement and blinked at the girl as she took the lead. He didn’t understand what she meant, but he felt like he shouldn’t until he got more information, so he let out a sigh then followed her behind.

X

“Aster, why are children here?” North raised an eyebrow the moment the said Pooka arrived in the workshop with Jamie and Sophie in his arms.

“Their babysitter couldn’t just leave ‘em alone,” Aster explained with a sigh as he set the two down. “I don’t trust her to take them with her, so I volunteered to take ‘em with me through the tunnels,”

“Where is she, anyway?” Tooth asked.

“She and Jack chose to fly,” Jamie replied.

“They should be here soon,” Aster grumbled, a hand moving to the boomerang on his sash. “but that doesn’t mean I trust that demon spirit,”

[“How dangerous did she seem?”] Sandy signed.

“Childish, playful… hard to tell if she was an actual demon spirit if it wasn’t for the fact that she admitted that she knew us before she even met us,” Aster growled.

“Let us all be ready then,” North took out his swords and set it on the front of his belt.

After a few minutes, the temperature in the room dropped. The group shivered before turning to see Jack stomp inside, his face screaming with anger while Gia followed behind him. The teen was still in her spirit form, her hair bow tied up in a ponytail while her tail wrapped around her waist like a belt.

Aster watched this with a frown. He set a hand on the Winter spirit’s shoulder to get his attention.

“You alright, Frostbite?”

“M’fine.” Jack snapped.

“No, you’re not,” Gia folded her arms before turning to the other Guardians with a bow. “Hi, I am Garaia Fernil, but you can call me Gia. Gia Mei, the Demon Spirit of Chaos and Death. And before you ask, no, I am NOT working for and/or with Pitch,”

“Then why did you tell Pitch when I gave Jack his memories back?” Tooth questioned.

“That’s… hard to explain,” Gia sighed, turning to glance at the Winter spirit. “I want to, but I can’t. Jack isn’t ready yet,”

“HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT?!” Jack roared out.

At his rage, frost appeared from under his feet and crawled all over the floor. At the same time, a deafening ring rung through the meeting room. Aster pulled on his ears with a hiss as the ring got so loud and so powerful that the mug on North’s desk shattered.

The shattered glass caused all of the Guardians to wince, with the children yelping and jumping behind the Pooka.

Gia didn’t even react. She only flinched at the shatter, but other than that, she just stood still. She waited until they calmed down then she turned to the youngest Guardian.

“You’re strong in the Force, Jack,” she gently spoke to not alarm him more than he already was. “You can’t deny that fact,”

“I…” Jack was trembling now, fear radiating off him. “Is that how…?”

“It’s like when those bullies attacked you with insults about you and your family,” Gia sighed. “Just like your powers, your connection and ability with the Force reacts to your emotion,”

“Calm yourself, Jack,” North gave a small, gentle pat on the spirit boy’s back. “It will help you feel better,”

“Yeah, take it easy, Frostbite,” Aster nodded in agreement, shuddering at the cold.

Sandy flew above the Winter spirit and smiled, allowing dream sand to fall from his cloud. Jack felt himself entering slumber before he slumped to the side and into Aster’s arms.

Tooth watched the Pooka take their youngest member into his arms, cradling him as he did, then she turned to the demon spirit.

“When do you think he’ll be ready?”

“He needs to release his fear, release all of the negativeness in his emotions,” Gia said. “His fear will corrupt him, I know it will. You guys need to talk to him, let him stay somewhere that ISN’T the lake he died in,”

“He will stay here, in Santoff Clausen, with me,” North announced.

Gia shook his head. “You’re too busy with preparations for next year Christmas, plus you’re still checking whose naught and whose nice to see which child shifted or not. And the letters, North. You’re still going to get plenty of Letters To Santa,”

“I’ll take him in the Warren then,” Aster offered.

“Okay, THAT is a good idea,” Gia gave the Pooka a wide grin. “He needs your company right now. You haven’t gotten any busy schedule other than painting the egglets, and even that could be done with Jack to help,”

“Good, I’ll take him to the Warren now, so he could rest,” Aster turned and lifted a foot to open up a tunnel when Gia stopped him.

“Wait!” She called out. “Take Jamie and Sophie with you. They’ll be safer in your place than here,”

“How?” Tooth asked.

“I’ll tell you guys when Jack’s ready,” Gia smiled. “I better go to help Mrs. Bennett not panic when she realizes that her children are missing, but I assure you guys that this is for their safety. Trust me. Please,”

“Well…” North didn’t look convinced, but he let out a sigh and nodded. “Alright, but we will still keep an eye on you in case Pitch shows up,”

“Pitch kicked me out of his lair, so I doubt he and I will have any connection, unless I’m planning to end my life,” Gia chuckled.

“Cannot be too careful,” North shook his head.

[“When do you think Jack will be ready for the truth?”] Sandy asked through his sand images.

Gia stopped for a while, the question echoing in her head as a scene appeared in her head.

_“I’m not afraid of them!”_

_“What are you afraid of then?!”_

_“…I… I’m afraid… of knowing. Of knowing what happened to my parents! I’m afraid of the truth!”_

_… the Truth…_

“He…He’ll be ready…” Gia took a deep breath and slowly turned back to face them. “when he no longer fears the truth,”

X

Two weeks. It’s been two weeks since Jack had met Gia. In those two weeks, the Winter spirit had moved in with Aster in the Warren, with Jamie and Sophie occasionally being sent there in the morning and sent back to their homes late at night.

Also in those two weeks, Jack had been avoiding the teenage girl spirit like a plague. He had tried to talk to her once, but once she had stated that she was technically his aunt, he lost it and ran to the spare room Aster provided him in the Warren.

Gia had stopped trying to interact with him after that. Well, more like Aster had forbidden her from going NEAR him, but it still feels the same.

She had only been seen when they left the Warren to celebrate New Years in Santoff Clausen, but she was in and out before anyone could notice her. The Winter spirit was actually glad that she was. The party was a little uncomfortable with the tension between them anyway.

At the moment, Jack was out in the garden with Aster. Not the plants that grew the googies, but the ones that actually grew vegetables. He was helping the Pooka with some gardening with a familiar presence was in the Warren.

Aster sensed it first. He turned and snarled at the newcomer.

“What’re you doin’ here?”

Jack blinked at him in surprise before turning to see her. He froze (not literally), dropping the gardening shovel in his hand.

“Wh-What do you want?”

“Jack…” Gia sighed. “we need to talk,”

“Don’t tell me that I’m ‘not ready’ then.” Jack snapped.

“Alright, I won’t,” Gia crossed her arms. “You’re acting like your mother then,”

“Since he IS my male mother then I’ll take it as a compliment,” Jack scoffed.

“I wouldn’t,” Gia shook her head and sat down, at least a feet away from the pair.

Aster gave her a warning glare. The demon spirit knew what the message was: STAY AWAY.

But as she usually did, Gia ignored the warning. Instead, she used her wings to flutter closer to them, little by little.

“Jack,”

“Go away.” Jack hissed.

Gia didn’t budge. She let out a sigh and clasped her hands together.

“You’re… afraid, aren’t you?”

“No, I’m not!” Jack grabbed onto his staff, preparing to defend himself.

“Then why are you overreacting?” Gia raised an eyebrow. “If you’re not afraid then why are you over-defending yourself?”

“I’m not, so SHUT UP!” Jack stood up and stomped the bottom of his staff on the grass, causing a layer of frost to cover it.

Another blast of deafening ringing came, but this time, it shook made the ceiling above them start to shake. Aster and Gia had to balance themselves and cover their heads from any dirt or debris that started to fall.

“Argh!” The Pooka released a hiss, aiming to glare at the unwanted spirit. “Quit makin’ ‘im angry, ya drango! Ya want the whole place to fall down on us or what?!”

Gia wanted to argue, but she knew he was right. Her presence had been done too much damage.

She sighed and turned around to leave but not before saying her final words:

“We were right. You’re not ready to know anything about your parents yet,”

X

Another week passed since Gia’s visit. The demon spirit never returned. Jamie and Sophie were being brought to the Warren or Santoff Clausen via snow globe, but the teenage girl never came.

Jack, on the other hand, stayed in his room, barely going out if it wasn’t for the fact that he could still feel hunger and thirst despite being a spirit. Gia’s last words echoed in his mind as he kept himself on the make-shift bed.

Part of his decision to stay inside his room was his fear. Yes, he admits that he’s afraid, but it wasn’t just because of the truth about parents. He‘s afraid of the Force, the only other thing besides his powers of frost and snow that strongly react to his emotions.

‘She was right about me.’ he sobbed one late afternoon. ‘I… I am not ready… Not ready to know the truth… Not ready to use the Force… Maybe… Maybe Manny had the right to remove my memories… and abandon me…’

“Frostbite? You in here?”

Jack looked up from his tears to see Aster standing by the arc door. The Pooka looked concerned, his frown deepening at the boy’s tearful eyes.

“O-Oh! H-Hey, Aster,” Jack forced in a smile. “Yeah, I’m here. What’s up?”

“You skipped lunch,” Aster slowly walked over to him, a bowl of diced fruits and vegetables in his hands.

“…right,” Jack sighed in defeat as he let the other sit beside him. “Sorry, Bunny. I just… There are lots of things on my mind right now,”

“Can’t think with an empty stomach, though,” Aster chuckled, handing the bowl over to him. “Eat up, Jackie,”

“Okay,” Jack nodded and accepted the bowl happily.

Aster waited for the Winter spirit to finish eating. For the whole week, he had been observing the boy as he hid himself in his room. It wasn’t natural for the youngest, jittery guardian to keep to himself in a closed-in space.

Soon, the bowl was empty. The Pooka took it back when it was given to him and set it on the floor beside the bed then he turned back to the other.

“Wanna talk about it, Snowflake?”

“I… I’m not sure…” Jack turned away.

“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to,” Aster gave a gentle pat on his shoulder.

“Bunny…” Jack flinched at the contact before turning back to him. “I… I WANT to tell you, but… but I’m not sure I know how to tell you…”

Nonetheless, Aster waited until the Winter spirit was able to gather himself up in courage. He waited as patiently as he could, not caring if his foot was starting to twitch in impatience.

“Aster…” Jack gulped. “Be honest with me: Do you… think I’m not ready?”

“Can you clarify what you mean, Frostbite?” Aster raised an eyebrow.

“Do you think I’m ready to KNOW about my past,” Jack sighed. “To know about my parents and all the secrets they kept from me and my sister. I mean… yes, I WANT to know everything. Want to know all of the things about them and their past that they kept from us. But…” Jack began to shiver, so he hugged himself. “at the same time, I’m… I’m scared. I’m FRIGHTENED to know, Bunny. I… I don’t know if I can handle it…”

Aster frowned, his ears lowering as he stared at the boy with sadness and understanding. If he were Jack, he would just be as unsure as he was. Talking about the past was hard, but uncovering and discovering your past after it was erased from your mind? That was worse. Much, MUCH worse.

“If I were you, I wouldn’t know how to handle it either,”

“But… how would I know if I’m ready to know?” Jack hugged himself tightly.

“No one’s ready for anythin’, mate,” Aster careful set a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “You just need to mentally expect the unexpected to help with fears,”

“And you’d think that I’ve been prepared after so much strangeness that’s happened in my life,” Jack bitterly chuckled.

“Thousands of years of strangeness, an’ even I ain’t prepared for many things, like the blizzard on Easter ‘68,” Aster humored, even if the memory of that day was unpleasant.

“To be fair, I wasn’t prepared for that time, either,” Jack half-heartedly grinned, grimacing at the memory before sighing with a frown. “I felt some kind of energy, which I’m assuming was the Force, pressuring on my mind that day. It was so painful and irritating. I was in the city at that time, and I was just about to leave when the pain came. I lost control of my powers, and it caused a huge blizzard. I didn’t even know it was Easter until I heard you yelling. Sorry about that, by the way,”

Aster didn’t know that. Now the Pooka felt sorry for holding a grudge on the kid for all those years.

“It’s all in the past, Jackie, don’t worry about it,” he brushed a paw against his hair gently. “We all need to let go, you know? So we could face whateva’ comes to us now,”

“I… I guess so…” Jack smiled and found himself blushing blue frost again, but he didn’t hide it this time. “You’re right. I… I need to prepare myself for whatever truth that might be told. I… I can’t change the past. Well, unless Father Time lets me, but that’s beside the point, right?”

“Right,” Aster nodded. “Do you still need time or should I…?”

“I… might need a LITTLE more time,” Jack sheepishly shrugged.

“Alright then,” Aster gave him a smile. “Me an’ the others will be waitin’ for you. Don’t worry, Frostbite. Take your time,”

“Thanks,” Jack felt his heart warm up at the words. “Are Jamie and Sophie here, though?”

“Yeah, they are,” Aster snickered. “They’re playin’ with the googies. Thought North could handle ‘em since Christmas was over. Guess I was wrong,”

“I… I think I’d like to play with them, since I’ve been cooped up here for a while with nothing but fear,” Jack shakily stood up, grabbing his staff.

“Aren’t we lucky that Pitch didn’t come here an’ take advantage of it then?” Aster gave a chuckle.

“Yep, pretty lucky,” Jack agreed with a small nod as they headed to the door.

X

Another week rolled in. January was almost finished, but it was still early Winter.

Jack had work to do, but thankfully, the situation had been excused by Mother Nature since Gia popped up in the radar again (she had been hiding for a while, and her reputation is more wicked and chaotic than her powers). He was free from duty until next Winter (or late Fall).

He was more than happy to be excused, and he spent the free time inside the Warren. He usually sat near the colorful river, meditating to calm and ease his mind and taking a couple of deep breaths to release his stress and fears into… well, the Force, since releasing it into his powers will cause a fight with Bunny, and he REALLY didn’t want that to happen.

Now that he was calmer and less fearful, he felt… light. The Force still rung in his mind and ears to call his attention, but it felt just as light as what he felt. Instead of a deafening ring, it was a nice, quiet hum, almost like music. A type of music that wasn’t in any genre, but more of a relaxing lullaby that was peaceful enough to calm him, but not that peaceful to make him sleep.

He was currently still doing it. It was late morning, and while Jamie chased after Sophie, who was chasing after the egglets, he set himself in front of the river to meditate.

Unbeknownst to him, a certain demon spirit decided to drop in to check on him and the kids. She had felt a change on Jack, and after consulting MIM, even if she had to suppress the urge to go up there on the moon and strangle him (yes, she can do that since she is also not from Earth), she made a choice to risk her life and head down to the Warren.

And since he was the original resident of that Warren, Aster was NOT amused.

“What in bloody hell are ya doin’ here?!” He snarled as soon as the teenage girl appeared at his doorstep. “I warned you to stay away from us an’ from Jack! He ain’t ready to any shit you throw at ‘im, so leave ‘im alone!”

“He says that he isn’t, but Manny knows he is,” Gia firmly said.

“Oh, sure, trust the guy who abandoned the kid for 300 years!” Aster was NOT having a good morning.

“Look, I don’t trust Lu— er, Manny, as much as you do,” Gia huffed, wincing when the Pooka narrowed his eyes at her after noticing the correction. “Hell, I’ve tried asking why he left Jack to wallow in his own isolation, but he never answers. He answers any other questions, but he forbids answering anything related to Jack unless he’s ready,”

“Who?” Aster growled. “MIM or Jack?”

“MIM,” Gia sighed. “Listen, Aster, I’m not from Earth, and neither are you. We both know Manny has everything under control. Well, under HIS control, but that’s besides the point. We both also know that Jack isn’t an ordinary human. Neither his parents nor his little sister and her descendants are normal. That’s why I told you guys to watch over Jamie and Sophie,”

Aster’s blood ran cold. “Wait… you… you mean…?”

“I’ll tell you and the other guardians later, in Santoff Claussen. For now,” she turned and headed for the other parts of the huge Warren. “I need to find Jack and see for myself what Manny’s talking about,”

She left the Pooka dumbfounded and headed to the colorful river. She smiled and giggled when the two children ran past her, along a couple of googies that were running away from the happy blonde girl.

‘I wish my childhood had been THAT amazing.’ she coldly chuckled, grimacing.

Her ears soon swiveled around at the sound of a sigh. She stopped in her tracks and saw the Winter spirit sitting by the edge of the colored water, in a meditative pose with his eyes closed.

Immediately, the sight gave her nostalgia, reminding her of another boy she used to know…

_“Kinda dangerous to meditate up there on that rock, don’t ya think, Ez?”_

_“It’s not dangerous if I don’t fall, G,”_

Gia shook the memory out and shuddered with a sigh. It was strange to see them so similar yet so different…

“I know you’re out there,” Jack suddenly spoke, with his eyes still closed.

The demon spirit froze briefly before chuckling. She took a step closer and folded her arms.

“I know,” she simply replied.

“So… Manny told you?” Jack opened one eye to look at her.

“Yes,” Gia nodded. “You’re calm. Good. Now, close your eyes again then listen to my voice, Jack. I have something for you, but you need to use the Force to know what it is,”

“Okay, Aunt G,” Jack coolly said, shrugging as he closed his other eye.

Gia wanted to burst into tears when she heard the honorific. It had been too long since she had heard the boy call her ‘Aunt’. Instead, she stopped herself and took a deep breath, watching a confused expression creep into Jack’s face.

“What do you see, Jack?”

“I… I see… light?” Jack sounded so confused. “I mean, I know my eyes are closed and all, but… I can SEE light. A glowing light,”

“What’s the color?”

“Hmm… whitish-grey? Well, more like silver, but… eh,”

‘He really is a guardian then…’ Gia blinked in surprise with snicker. “Alright then. Tell me what you feel,”

“I… feel light, like I have been for the past few days,” Jack smiled.

“Not a speck of darkness or wildness?”

“Nope, not one,” Jack shook his head.

“That’s good,” Gia sighed in relief. “Now, can you tell me what you hear,”

“I hear… some sort of music,” Jack answered. “A humming music that’s sounds like happy and fun. Like… Like the music of snowflakes falling from the sky. I… I know that doesn’t make, but—“

“No, no, it does,” Gia reassured him. “It does, based on your situation as a Winter spirit, though even before, you LOVE Winter and Easter simultaneously,”

“Is that… Is that all you need to know?”

“Yes,” Gia held out a grey cylinder hilt with blue frost and white snowflakes as designs. “You’re ready, Jack Frost,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes! He’s FINALLY going to know the truth! I can’t wait!


	8. Truth About The Overlands

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Omg, YES! TRUTH TIME! AAAAH! I AM SO EXCITED!!! This includes some time traveling too. YAY! XD
> 
> Also, the flashback scenes are actually from the original way I was supposed to write this thing, but people wanted present time before truth time-Travel flashback, so I went with that ^^ Enjoy!
> 
> Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN RISE OF THE GUARDIANS AND STAR WARS REBELS.

Jack stared at the grey cylinder hilt given to him. He blinked once. He blinked twice.

He didn’t understand what was being given to him.

“It’s yours, Jack,” Gia replied to the unspoken question. “You were supposed to get it when you turned 18, but…”

“…I died, at the age of 15. Right,” Jack sighed. “Bet Mom was disappointed that he wasn’t able to give it to me, huh?”

“Hard to be disappointed when he died at the same time you did,” Gia chuckled bitterly.

“He… He died at the same time as me?” Jack’s eyes widened in horror. “H-How?! Why?! Wh-What…?!”

“Yep,” Gia sighed. “It’s… complicated, Jack, but once I explain everything, it will all make sense. Well, it will MOSTLY make sense, but there will be sense. I promise,”

Jack was internally doubting, but he knew he couldn’t judge her at the moment. He let out a sigh and nodded, grabbing his staff and standing up. He took the hilt from her and placed it in the pocket of his hoodie.

“Then I guess I’ll see what this is later,”

“Better later than never,” Gia giggled. “Now, come on. We can all discuss this in Santoff Clausen. All the Guardians need to hear this,”

X

“Remind us again why the children are here?” Tooth asked as they gathered in the Globe Room of Santoff Clausen.

“It’s a necessity, Toothiana, don’t argue with me here,” Gia grumbled. She had a tendency to dislike Tooth more than the other spirits.

“Aunt Gia finally said that I’m ready to know the truth,” Jack was excited and angsty at the same time.

“But what does that have to do with us, Jack?” Jamie questioned.

“You’ll know soon, Jam-Jam,” Gia ruffled his hair playfully. “For now, let’s start with a little time-travel flashback,”

She held out her arms and shook her golden bangles. Suddenly, a flash of light appeared and a scene appeared.

_[FLASHBACK]_

_Alarms rang through the ship, along with red lights that flashed danger._

_Ezra Bridger gripped tightly to the steering, trying to get them away from the planet they were set to crash on. He tried to get the emergency signal ready in case they don’t make it, but the signal was inactive, causing him to hiss in dismay._

_“KRIFFING HELL!” He cursed, punching the control panel as hard as he could._

_“The engines are a bust!” Tristan Wren cried out as he ran to the cockpit of the ship, his golden brown eyes full of worry and stress._

_“Yeah, I noticed!” Ezra scowled before a warning came and blocked his screen. “Argh! Steering’s down!”_

_“Move over, Bridger!” Tristan ran to the Jedi and pushed him off the pilot’s seat. “I’ll fly this thing!”_

_“No way, Tristan!” Ezra argued, trying to take back the steering. “This is Hera’s ship, and she left ME in charge of flying it!”_

_“I’m older and more experienced! I’ll fly it!”_

_“You’re only older by five months, and just because you’re a Mando, doesn’t mean you have more experience! Besides, I’m actually part of our crew, so this is technically MY ship!”_

_“No, it isn’t, Bridger! Now move!”_

_“NO! Just because you’re Sabine’s brother by blood, doesn’t mean you get to tell me what to do!”_

_“I do, now MOVE!”_

_“NO! How the hell did we even get stuck in this mission together, anyway?!”_

_“That was YOUR fault!”_

_“MY fault?! It was either you or Sabine, and Countess Ursa didn’t want to risk her! I didn’t CHOOSE you!”_

_“But it was YOU who got the attention of those Imperial ships!”_

_“Oh, and you using your jet pack to fly over the Star Destroyer was SUPER subtle!”_

_“THAT’S BEYOND THE POINT!”_

_The two teens continued to bicker as the wrecked ship descended down the planet at top speed. The friction of the fall soon began to trigger a spark. A turbulence came as soon as the vessel went through the atmosphere, catching the boys’ attention._

_“What the—“ the screen soon burst into flames, and they screamed. “GAH!”_

_Ezra finally pushed the Mando off the steering and grabbed the wheel, pulling on it as hard as he could to try to ascend the ship. He tried to remain balance when more turbulence came, his eyes shutting tightly in concentration._

_Tristan hissed in pain the moment he was pushed to the ground. He glanced up at the Jedi to argue, but his eyes widened in horror the moment he saw the flames entering the ship, surrounding the control console… and Ezra!_

_“Bridger, get down!”_

_“What?” Ezra opened his eyes and gasped, jerking back the moment he saw the fire burn the steering. “Woah!”_

_“I said get down!” Tristan grabbed the other by the arm and dragged him down as smoke occupied the air. “Stay down, Bridger! There’s too much smoke for us to stand and breathe!”_

_“What do we *cough* do now?” Ezra spoke, covering his nose from the smoke._

_“We gotta *cough* *cough* get to the escape pod,” Tristan answered as he set a hand over his nose and mouth._

_“We *cough* don’t have an *cough* *cough* escape pod!” Ezra told him, his vision a little hazy as his mind spun._

_“Then we just *cough* *cough* need to *cough* get out of here!” Tristan began to crawl forward, towards the back of the ship. “Come on!”_

_Ezra tried his best to follow, but he had already taken in too much smoke and was starting to lose focus. He was coughing and wheezing like crazy as soon as he was half-way through the ship. His limbs were trembling, and his breathing was unstable, but he kept going, trying to use the Force to pinpoint where Tristan was going._

_Unfortunately, this action drained more of the energy he was using to stay conscious, and before he knew it, he fell on the floor, shivering and gasping for air as he fought to stay awake. He reached an arm out at the Mando._

_“T-Tristan…”_

_Tristan turned at the weak call, and his eyes widened to see the other teen on the ground, half-unconscious. He cursed in Mando’a under his breath before rushing to help, swinging an arm around his waist while he grabbed the other boy’s arm and wrapped it around his neck._

_“Stay with me, Bridger,” he spoke in a whisper as he dragged him through the ship._

_Ezra didn’t reply. He felt his eyes drop into slumber as he was carried off. He needed to save his strength if he was going to be useful later on when they survive._

_Well, IF they survive. He hoped the Force will save them from death._

_Tristan felt a weigh on his shoulder and glanced back to see the Jedi, out cold but still shivering. He placed a hand on his neck to check his pulse._

_‘Still alive.’_

_He sighed in relief and made his way down to the secret bunker that he had discovered earlier. He opened the door and went inside, setting Ezra down on the ground then he shut the door as fast as he could before the flames could follow._

_Once the door deemed itself fireproof, he slowly stepped back then he turned to sit beside the unconscious boy. He looked down at Ezra and noticed how pale he had gotten. He winced at the sight._

_He knew the teen was a Jedi, just like his Master, Jarrus, and that he was close to his age, but Tristan knew that Ezra was different from any other teenager._

_Other than being Force-Sensitive, Ezra was an orphan at age 7, self-raised in a planet and not even close to being trained as a warrior. He grew up through life and experience, not through any harsh training or anything. He was no Mandalorian, that Tristan could see, but that was what made things terrifying._

_3 years of experience in war didn’t make Ezra thick-skinned, armored and ready for battle. Neither was 7 or 8 years in the streets. Maybe that was the real reason he was assigned to accompany the younger teen on the mission; to be his bodyguard. To make sure that he was brought back home, safe and alive._

_Soon, Tristan’s eyes lowered to the Jedi’s burnt sleeves. He frowned and leaned over to check the damage. Thankfully, the burnt out fabric had cooled off already, so he was able to pull up the sleeves with ease._

_The moment he saw the young Jedi’s wrists, however, his heart sank. Both were nearly burnt to the bone, part of it burnt black and most of it raw pink. It made Tristan grimace, but he held in his gut and took out a few bacta patches._

_“Hopefully he doesn’t feel this…” he muttered before gently setting some on the nearly-burnt skin._

_Ezra’s body flinched, but the younger boy didn’t wake up. Tristan sighed in relief and finished fixing the injury, wrapping them in bandages. He then pulled the other close to him as series of turbulence came…_

_[END]_

Jack gasped while the others stumbled back in surprise.

“Woah…”

“Woah, indeed,” Gia snickered. “You’re parents were worse than you and Bunny when you two argue,”

“Da, arguments keep love strong,” North let out a chuckle.

“So they… crash-landed here?” Aster raised an eyebrow. “On Earth?”

“They did,” Gia nodded.

“So… they’re alien?” Tooth tilted her head.

“No.” Gia groaned. “They’re TECHNICALLY classified as humans, but not Terrans, thus being classified as ‘aliens’ in Earth terms,”

“There are other human classifications?” Jamie was amazed.

“Yeah, they are,” Aster nodded. “I heard it from my father, who contributed in joining the alliance between the Pookas of our planet Pookan, and the Lunariens from the planet Lunaria and the Lumens from the planet Lume,”

“What planet do Jack’s parents come from?” North asked.

“Ezra’s a Lothalian or a Lothalite, from the planet of Lothal,” Gia replied with a shrug. “Tristan’s a Mandalorian or a Mando, from the planet of Mandalore, but his Clan Residence is in the planet of Krownest,”

“Okay… but in my memories, we lived in a clean, efficient shack,” Jack grew curious. “How did they find that little shack in such short notice? Did they buy it off? Did they steal it?”

“To be honest, your mother was a street thief,” Gia cackled. “but no, it wasn’t stolen. You’ll see,” She jingled her bangles again to reveal the next scene.

_[FLASHBACK]_

_Planet Terra, a.k.a Earth, Year 1695 AD._

_It was Mid-Summer._

_The ship crashed into the trees of the woods. The vessel was cracked open and ripped apart, leaving the bunker safely in the middle._

_Well, not so safely. Parts of the bunker were dented and slightly burnt, but inside was still intact._

_The door slid open, and Tristan stepped outside to find themselves in the middle of nowhere, under the intense heat of the sun. He wiped a sweat off his forehead and let out a tired breath._

_“Well, the worst is over…” he sighed in relief and looked around. “Now, we need a place to take shelter…”_

_He reentered the bunker to pick up Ezra, carrying him bridal style then he cautiously exited the bunker and the crash site. He walked deeper into the woods and looked around to find shelter._

_The sun was shining down on him, as hot as ever. He wasn’t used to it being so hot, growing up in Krownest and all, so he felt like his energy was being drained by all of the heat, but he kept moving._

_Carrying Ezra in his arms wasn’t any trouble. The Jedi was VERY light, mostly underweight and malnutrition, if Tristan had to guess, so it didn’t really bother him._

_Shelter? Yes, that’s definitely one of things bothering the Mando. They were in an unknown planet with people or aliens that may kill them at sight or report them to the Empire. In other words, they were NOT in a safe place at the moment._

_After trekking for a couple more minutes, Tristan nearly sighed in relief out loud when he spotted an old, brown shack nearby. It didn’t look like it was going to last a day, but it was better than nothing._

_He ran to the shack as fast as he could, halting to a stop to take a good look at the place._

_The shack really WAS worn out. The roof was on boards, and the walls were cracking and crumbling. The door— or where the door used to be, was full of straw and hay, blocking the entrance as various spider webs and spiders were at every nook and corner of the shack._

_“Better than nothing,” Tristan grumbled._

_And it really was. The shack didn’t look so well, but at least there was a lake beside them for water and a forest around them for food._

_He gently set Ezra down on the patch of grass then he turned back to the shack to clear the entrance. He scooped the hay and straw with two hands and threw them out into a pile. He kept on scooping until the entrance was mostly clear, with only bits of straw and hay leftover._

_They REALLY need to fix the place if they were going to stay there any longer. Their ship was a wreck, the nearest civilization was probably a couple of miles away and enemy ships might come and capture them._

_In other words, if they wanted to survive, they needed to stay there a little longer than they hoped._

_Tristan let out a groan then he turned to get Ezra, who was still out cold but was breathing normally than earlier. He carried him inside and settled him down on the dusty couch, which he had to dust off first, then he looked around to observe._

_The inside of the shack was even worse than the outside! The place was dusty, full of flies, mosquitoes and spiders, and the furniture were either torn, ripped, dusty and/or broken. It looked like there were lots of rooms, but it was difficult to tell with all the door frames and broken walls._

_He let out a groan, a hand running down his face._

_“This is going to be a LONG day…”_

_[END]_

“Wow…” Jack gasped. “The shack looks worse than when I found it a month ago,”

“Abandoned for centuries and much worse,” Gia agreed.

“And Dad had to clean the whole place by himself?!”

“As if you’re Mom was conscious enough to help,” Gia chuckled.

“Hmm… true,” Jack sighed.

“I’m sure you’re mother was able to help when he woke up, right?” Aster turned to the demon spirit for a confirmation.

“Yeah, but… not in the way you think,” Gia winced with a nervous smile.

“What does that mean?” Tooth questioned.

“Just watch and see, tooth crazy,” Gia huffed before making another scene appear.

_[FLASHBACK]_

_Ezra woke up to smell of dust._

_The first thing he felt was a headache pounding on his brain. He let out a groan and rubbed his head before proceeding to sit up. He was about to open his eyes when his nose caught the scent of dust._

_“ACHOO!” He released a loud sneeze then he was gasping and coughing smoke out of his lungs in an instant._

_“Bridger!” Thumping footsteps were heard approaching him, and before he knew it, strong hands gently gripped his shoulders, one of them hitting his back to help. “Take it easy, and BREATHE!”_

_Ezra couldn’t focus, but he tried to follow the command. He slowed down his breathing and released the smoke out of his chest. He coughed and wheezed as carefully as he could whilst releasing his worry, fear and pain into the Force._

_“There… that’s it…” Still panting for air, he turned to look up to see Tristan glancing down at him. “You took in too much smoke from the flames,”_

_“Yeah… *cough* *cough* I *cough* noticed…” Ezra groaned, the last of the smoke finally leaving his lungs._

_“How are you feeling?” Tristan asked as he helped him to sit up straight._

_“Like I fell asleep in a fire pit,” Ezra gave out an exasperated breath. “Seriously, though, what happened? Where’s the ship?”_

_“Crashed and destroyed,” Tristan sighed, letting go of the Jedi. “I took us to the bunker, which was, thankfully, the only thing that survived in the crash. Everything else is damaged,”_

_“Do you… Do you know what planet we landed in?” Ezra asked as he looked around. ‘Dusty old shack… well, could be worse…’_

_“I was able to check before my data-pad lost it’s power,” Tristan answered. “A planet called Terra, but the locals call it Earth,”_

_“Terra? Earth?” Ezra raised an eyebrow. “Never heard of that planet before,”_

_“It’s a rare planet to explore since it’s far from Imperial Space, the Unknown Regions and Wild Space,” Tristan explained. “In the holo-stories I’ve read, this planet is full of humans. Or ‘Terrans’, in relation to the planet. No aliens of some sort. Some spirits, some guardians, but neither of them had been spotted by the locals before. Even the explorers couldn’t change the belief of the close and narrow-minded humans living in this planet,”_

_“So… it’s good news, bad news?” Ezra guessed._

_“I guess,” Tristan shrugged. “I mean, it’s good that the Empire doesn’t stretch up to here, and it’s bad news that our ship is badly damaged…”_

_“Can’t we fix it?”_

_“Most of the parts were burnt, and it seemed that technology hasn’t flourished here yet,” Tristan pointed out. “Plus… you’re injured. Don’t think you can work for a week or two, or you’ll risk making it worse,”_

_“Injured?” Ezra looked down at himself, only noticing how tattered and messed up his clothes were. “Where?”_

_“Here,” Tristan gently took his wrists and pulled on the burnt sleeves to reveal bandages. “You burnt them when you were trying to steer us away from the planet. Luckily, they weren’t burnt to the bone. Well, not completely anyway,”_

_“I… don’t even want to open them,” Ezra winced at the sight, already imagining what the burns looked like._

_“You should NOT open them,” Tristan glared at the other. “They need time to heal, so don’t be all stubborn, like Sabine tells me,”_

_“Well, EXCUSE ME, I’ve dealt with injuries much worse than this, so I’m fine.” Ezra huffed, turning away and crossing his arms._

_Tristan shook his head and stood up then he turned to leave the Jedi be._

_As soon as the Mando left, Ezra felt a chill of fear run down his spine. He looked up and around to realize that it was night time already. The old shack in the dark was frightening, with the light of the moon not helping as it created even more shadows on the walls._

_Ezra didn’t know how and why he was frightened. He had seen worst things than this. Why is he afraid now?_

_He glanced at the door frame where Tristan left. He felt the sudden urge to emerge from the shack and go with the Mando, but at the same time, he feared of what might happen to either of them._

_With a few cleansing breaths, he released his worries and fear into the Force, clearing his mind. He shakily stood up from his seat, but he went up a little too quickly, causing his mind to spin and his legs to tumble before he fell on the ground with a thud._

_[END]_

“Now we see why you’re so stubborn, Frostbite!” Aster laughed.

“Hey!” Jack pouted, his cheeks hinting blue frost.

Sandy shook his head at the bickering duo while Tooth and North seemed to be discussing something between themselves. Gia face-palmed.

“You’re not so bad yourself on the whole stubborn thing, Bunny,” she scoffed.

“HEY!” Aster snarled at the teenage girl.

“Ha! Take that, Cottontail!” Jack grinned.

“ANYWAY!” Gia called back their attention. “Anyone’s got any questions before we move on?”

“I have a question, Gia,” Tooth fluttered over. “So… they knew they were on Earth?”

“Yes,” Gia nodded.

“And they knew all about us guardians?”

“Yes,”

“They knew we exist, as much as any other spirit?” North looked baffled. “And they believe in us despite what villagers say?”

“Yes, And Yes,” Gia shrugged. “Those two had seen a couple of weird things in their lives, so spirits and guardian spirits aren’t really out-of-the-ordinary for them anymore,”

“I got a question too,” Jamie raised a hand.

“No way, Jam-Jam,” Gia dismissed him. “You and Sophie will get your turn. If you’re wondering what’s your role in this then you have to wait,”

Jamie sighed but nodded, setting his hand down. Gia smiled.

“Good,” she brought out and shook her bangles. “Time to keep watching!”

_[FLASHBACK]_

_“That Jedi doesn’t know when to quit.” Tristan muttered to himself as he used the stone axe that he had built with the help of his blaster to cut wood for a fire. “Sure, he’s been injured worse, but why can’t he be worried for his own life for once and not anyone else’s? Ugh…”_

_CHOP! CHOP! CHOP!_

_The tree he had been chopping fell with a huge thud. Tristan sighed in relief and proceeded to remove the leaves. He placed them in a pile then he turned back to the bark and began to chop the wood into blocks. He had gotten at least 23 wood blocks, excluding the branches, after 10 chops, and had piled them up before turning to chop again._

_Once he was done, he carried ten wood blocks in his arms and started to return to the shack._

_‘How long are we even going to be stuck here?’ He thought to himself as he trekked through the forest to head back to their… er, shelter. ‘Are we ever going to get back home? Am I ever going to see Sabine or Mother again? Will I even get to see Father again? Will he ever be free from the Empire? Will we—‘_

_THUD!_

_Tristan froze in the spot the moment he heard someone collapse. He dropped all the wood he was holding and ran inside the shack. His eyes widened in horror at what he saw._

_“Bridger!”_

_The boy was unconscious on the floor, one arm out and the other close to his chest. His breathing was shallow, and his body was shivering._

_“Oh kriff, oh kriff, oh kriff, oh kriff…” Tristan was in a verge of panic as he ran to the other teen and knelt down beside him, a hand moving to hold the Jedi’s head._

_He leaned close to check the stability of his breathing. Tristan swallowed after hearing the slow breathing then he set an arm under the younger boy’s legs before slowly lifting him. He carefully set him down on the couch._

_“Come on, Bridger, you can’t die in my watch…” the Mando hissed whilst he placed a hand on the other teen’s forehead. “Hmm… a fever? That’s not good…”_

_Unfortunately, none of their stuff from the crash survived. The only things that survived were the stuff they had, which were Tristan’s blasters and Ezra’s blaster and lightsaber._

_“How am I supposed to cool off his fever…?” Tristan looked around the shack and began to frantically search._

_To his relief, he found a huge, hidden cooler, full of ice blocks and snow. He had no idea how the ice stayed cold, or how the snow hadn’t melted yet, but at the moment, he didn’t really care._

_He shut the cooler and took out a towel from his pocket (even he had no idea why he had it). He took some ice cubes and wrapped them in the cloth before rushing back to Ezra._

_“Okay, okay…” He let out a shaky breath as he placed the makeshift ice pack on the Jedi’s forehead. “This should work until we can get actual medicine. Well, IF we’ll be able to get actual medicine, anyway…”_

_After a while, he finally felt the other flinch at the cold. He sighed in relief and carefully took the pack off._

_“Argh…” Ezra groaned, rubbing his eyes as he tried to weakly sit up. “T-Tristan…? W-What… What happened…?”_

_“Fever,” Tristan answered. “Don’t know how high, but it must be pretty bad if you fainted,”_

_“My stomach hurts…” Ezra held his abdomen with a slightly whimper then he placed a hand on his head. “So does my head…”_

_“Your stomach?” Tristan quirked an eyebrow as he gave the ice pack to the other to help with his head. “Are you famished?”_

_“…” Ezra felt his face redden in embarrassment as he turned away from the older teen. “…maybe,”_

_“Bridger…” Tristan narrowed his eyes at the lack of response._

_“Hey, hey! I didn’t want to cause you more trouble than I already did!” Ezra defended, looking back at the Mando._

_“You di’kut (idiot)…” Tristan had to resist from slapping a hand on his face. ‘This selfless idiot was going to kill himself in a day if I don’t keep an eye on him!’_

_Ezra knew that Mando’a word anywhere and harrumphed. Sabine had used that word on him, and occasionally Zeb and Kanan, whenever they went on a mission and did something stupid. He had heard Rex use that word too, but that was only once and was directed at Kanan after a rather… personal confession. (Hinting my ship here XD)_

_“Oh, PLEASE, Wren,” Ezra rolled his eyes. “As if you already got berries or hunted for any meat…”_

_“THAT’S BESIDES THE POINT!”_

_Ezra jerked back in shock. He had never seen the male Mandalorian get so upset before. He was usually… calmer, even when he shot them down and cornered them at their first meeting._

_Tristan soon realized his mistake and took a deep breath to recompose and gather himself. He cleared his throat and straightened himself up._

_“Er, sorry,” he sighed as he apologized at the loss of temper. “It’s just… it’s annoying how selfless you can be,”_

_“How… is it annoying?” Ezra tilted his head in confusion. He wasn’t used to be told off for being selfless. Kanan told him that Jedi were protectors who served others, not themselves._

_“You’re thinking of others before yourself, Bridger,” Tristan bit down a hiss as he began. “It would be admirable if you took care of yourself evenly, but you don’t. You would literally die taking care of someone. Why? What do you have to prove?”_

_“Tristan, if I keep fighting for my own life, my life will be worth nothing.” Ezra huffed._

_“But if you keep fighting for others without caring for yourself, you won’t be able to save anyone.” Tristan snapped._

_“Why do YOU even care?” Ezra scowled, turning to glare daggers at the Mando. “I thought that you and your family hate the Jedi! I thought that YOU hate the Jedi! I thought that YOU hate ME! Why do you even bother?!”_

_“Bridger, it’s only the two of us in this forsaken planet!” Tristan’s voice rose, but he didn’t bother correct himself. “We would have NO choice but to work together to survive! Who knows how long we’ll be stuck here!”_

_Ezra growled and stood up, throwing the pack on the couch. “WE DON’T! YOU CAN GO YOUR OWN WAY, AND I’LL GO MY OWN WAY! I DON’T GIVE A KRIFFING DAMN ANYMORE! GOODBYE!”_

_With that, he stomped past the stunned Mando and out of the shack._

_[END]_

The group watched in surprise as the scene faded. Gia had a smirk on her lips at their reaction.

“What? You guys thought that they liked each other from the start?” she chuckled.

“Mom… Dad…” The words escaped Jack so shockingly that he was shaking.

“Bridger? Wren?” Aster’s eyebrows furrowed. “Those sound more like last names than first names, shiela. Especially Wren,”

“So you’ve heard of Clan Wren then?” Gia quirked an eyebrow.

“Once, but those warriors are hard to recruit,” Aster stated. “As I remember, they work for a different Empire. A more cruel one,”

[“Yes, that’s true,”] Sandy agreed with a nod as he signed. [“The Golden Empire has tried three times to ally with to defeat the Living Darkness, but their Empire and their warriors were… vile and selfish,”]

“Da, all this info about space beyond the Golden Empire hurts my brain,” North hissed, scratching his head.

“We don’t even know what a Jedi is,” Tooth pointed out.

“A Jedi is a Knight of the Force, or Ashla, which is an energy around us that surrounds us, penetrates us and binds the galaxy together,” Gia explained. “Those sensitive to it can wield, depending on their level of sensitivity. Ezra is VERY Force-Sensitive, with a medichlorian count of nineteen thousand or more, thus Jack ending up Force-Sensitive as well, with an unknown medichlorian count,”

“What iz ‘medichlorian count’?” North asked.

“It’s a count on how powerful you are in the Force,” Gia answered. “And based on observation, Jack’s medichlorian count is about eighteen to nineteen thousand, at the latest. An average is about lower than sixteen thousand but higher than twelve thousand,”

“I’m that powerful, huh?” Jack chuckled.

“Yeah, because not only are you a Force-Sensitive child, but you’re also the grandson of a Countess,” Gia grinned happily. “And your father was going to be a Count if he never got stuck here on Earth since your Aunt took down the position, and as the eldest, you could have been next in line,”

“Omg, I could have been a COUNT?!” Jack’s jaw dropped.

“Good thing you didn’t,” Aster shuddered. “Your ego is as big as it is,”

“Oh, and yours isn’t?” Jack turned to challenge the Pooka.

“Both of your egos are pretty large. Don’t need to compare,” Gia rolled her eyes then she took out her arms to shake her bangles. “Now, ON WITH THE SHOW!”

_[FLASHBACK]_

_It was Late Summer. Fall was only a week away._

_Tristan had cleaned up the shack from inside and out. It didn’t look like home, but it did look nicer than it was when he first found it._

_He had removed his armor and had torn off his sleeves to reduce sweating. He had given up his boots and gloves and had made wooden slippers for his feet._

_Food was a little scarce, but he was able to hunt down some meat and find some berries in the forest. The lake provided him water, so luckily, it was no problem._

_A mustache and beard had grown on his face during the first month of stay, but he was able to find an icicle that was sharp enough shave them off (how he did is unknown, even to me XD)._

_At the moment, he used the sleeves he had ripped off as a scarf to not stutter at the cold, early wind of early Fall. He had his gloves and boots back on as he gathered food for the upcoming Winter._

_Yes, he knows it’s really early, but it was better than being late. He had used parts of the wrecked ship to install a heater and a food storage in the shack already, so all he had to do was fill it in._

_“How many berry bushes are in this forest?” Tristan sighed as he picked up the seventh basket (made it himself) of berries. “I would have made a feast for two already!”_

_But he didn’t. He couldn’t. Tristan knew that._

_Ezra left months ago. No trace of where he went._

_Tristan thought it would only be three weeks, thinking that he knew the Jedi well enough to know that he would have to return at some point. He didn’t know why, but he had HOPE that Ezra would come back to him._

_But he didn’t. No matter how long Tristan waited, Ezra never came._

_His own disappointment surprised him. He wasn’t close with the boy, the Jedi, his sister’s other little brother. Why was he hoping for him to return?_

_Tristan shook his head out of his thoughts as he stood up to head back to his— shelter. No, not home. Never home. Not even house._

_Suddenly, there was a slash and a scream from nearby._

_Tristan almost dropped his basket when he heard it. He turned just in time to hear a green glow flash down through the trees._

_‘Bridger.’_

_He didn’t know what came over him, but in an instant, he dropped the basket and ran to the direction of the fight, the sound of slashes and yells getting louder the closer he got. His steps got louder, faster, as his distress rose to his throat._

_‘What kind trouble did that Jedi get into?!’_

_He soon made it to another clearing, but this time, it was crowded._

_A group of hunters with large hats and guns with bullets were at one side of the clearing, shooting away mercilessly, wildly and recklessly. A bunch of wolves on the other side of the clearing were running away, most looking like cowards and young pups while others were at the front, threatening to kill. Among the wolves was a hooded figure, wielding a green lightsaber and deflecting silver bullets._

_“Damn that Jedi and his connection with the Force.” Tristan cursed as he ran to hide behind a tree, watching the fight commence. “Not even a year here, and he’s already picking fights with the locals. Who does he think he is—“_

_“ACK!”_

_Tristan jumped at the cry before turning to see the hunters being shot down by their own bullets, which were deflected by the boy’s lightsaber. The Mando wasn’t surprised as each hunter was shot down, giving the wolves an opportunity to escape. The person, whom he assumed as Ezra, cursed under his breath as he stared at the dead bodies._

_“Karabast.” He hissed. “Si'hklesi yihehsa… (Stupid hunters…) Korjin huhsi fic ar asinan geo... (They just had to attack us…)”_

_‘Hmm… didn’t even know that Bridger spoke Ryl…’ Tristan hummed in thought, slowly backing up to return back to his—er, the shack._

_Just as he did, a twig snapped below his foot. He froze in the spot before groaning._

_He was never going to be subtle, was he?_

_He looked up to see if Ezra heard it. To his surprise, the field was empty, minus the bodies on the ground. He let out a sigh of relief._

_“Go ktei eti ohk voryari toe a Sirki'oleio ar kkeoo kue fonol. (Didn’t know it was proper for a Mandalorian to spy on people.)”_

_“GAH!” Tristan jumped and turned to find himself face-to-face with the hooded boy, with the wolves by his sides. “What the hell, Bridger?!”_

_“Vear nilan dan ktan eti ohk san? (How did you know it was me?)” Ezra tilted his head in curiosity._

_“Sure, the glowing lightsaber doesn’t give it away,” Tristan rolled his eyes at his own sarcasm._

_“Qa ohk dan os nie circaa? A'an ir kkeoo kue san. (What are you even doing here? Other than spying on me.)” Ezra crossed his arms._

_“I wasn’t spying,” Tristan corrected. “I heard a pained cry and found you battling with the locals,”_

_Ezra groaned and turned away. “Eti aan go sei vu'ka. Korjin tao ar solsehan geo. Gu, ji jum, ho si'k'al. Do toyid go jid korjin. (It’s not my fault. They tried to kill us. Well, the wolves, at least. I couldn’t let them.)”_

_“Fair enough,” Tristan sighed. “Why in galaxies are you speaking in Ryl anyway?”_

_“Do karau ar nie eti dekam'i cea Do ohk go or circaa. (I want to make it obvious that I’m not from here.)“ Ezra looked back and shrugged. “Tohsi tilsa Do jid, Do ni'ak kue a de'is. Korjin banirka sei blika vil yea. Tenii Do rahkory korjin, korjin dos san a sarhohu'a. Do fiyet nlarabi, cei guo Do uba a si'hini jerhc ar nie eti dekam'i cea Do ohk go or circaa. (After I left, I stumbled upon a village. They questioned my clothes and everything. When I answered them, they called me a liar. I got mad, so now I use a different language to make it obvious that I’m not from here.)”_

_“I don’t even go to the village,” Tristan remarked. “Well, I haven’t in a while. As much as I’d want to get some help, I’d rather not. The people there are as narrow-minded as the brain-washed stormtroopers of the Empire,”_

_“I suppose so,” Ezra chuckled, switching back to Basic in a second. “but since I know you, I’ll speak normally. I just got used to it that I hardly remember how to not speak it,”_

_“I see…” Tristan felt the awkward tension move between them, so he allowed his eyes to wonder down to the wolf pups at their feet. “Bridger, I think your companions need medical attention,”_

_“Huh?” Ezra looked down and gasped, taking one of the pups in his arms. “Oh my, Ginger! You got scraped!”_

_“My point exactly,” Tristan let out a chuckle, folding his arms. “Come on. I cleaned up the shack, and I’ve got medical supplies inside,”_

_“Medical supplies?” Ezra raised an eyebrow. “Stolen or ‘borrowed’?”_

_“Both technically, since I’m sure your definition of ‘borrowed’ means I took the supplies without asking and am willing to return them,” Tristan replied. “Though after a few weeks, I’m not really planning to give them back anymore,”_

_“Good, medical supplies aren’t mean for returning anyway,” Ezra retorted. “Let’s just get the pups and wolves looked over and patched them we’ll be out of your hair,”_

_[END]_

Jack blinked as the scene ended. He looked over at Gia, who only gave a shrug.

“Your mother swore to never forgive your father for insulting him about being a selfless Jedi,” she spoke. “He was offended since being selfless was the only real lesson he had learned since he was taken in by his space crew,”

“Never heard of the language Ryl before, though,” Aster pointed out.

“It’s a language in the planet of Ryloth, in Imperial Space,” Gia answered.

“Mom was bilingual?” Jack asked with a gasp.

“Multilingual, actually,” Gia corrected. “Ryl was only one of the languages he knew because his adoptive mother, a.k.a the captain of their space crew, taught him when he asked out of boredom,”

“What does ‘Karabast’ mean?” Jamie innocently wondered.

“Ah…. Ah!” Gia was in immediate panic. “I forgot to censor that word! Sorry, Jamie, but that’s… um… that’s a curse word, and no, you’re not allowed to use it,”

“I’m not?” Jamie tilted his head in confusion.

“You are NOT.” Gia gave him a warning glance. “End of discussion.”

“Okay,”

“How was he able to connect with the wolves?” Tooth raised a question.

“The Force,” Gia simply said.

“This ‘Force’ iz quite powerful, Da?” North gave a chuckle, crossing his arms.

“Seems so,” Aster gave a nod.

“Your mother had always had a soft spot for animals,” Gia smiled over at the Winter spirit. “Vegetarian too, but it was mostly because he could only afford fruits and vegetables for a couple of years,”

“Did Mom stay with Dad longer?” Jack suddenly asked. “I mean, he obviously didn’t like Dad before, but—“

“Oh, he did,” Gia grinned mischievously. “I mean, Ezra really, REALLY did, but he… well, I guess I gotta let the scene show you the reasons,” She took out her bangles and jingled them around, making them glow and flash.

_[FLASHBACK]_

_“And here you go,” Tristan smiled as he wrapped the last bandage on the last wolf pup._

_The pup howled in delight before giving him a thankful lick. The Mando laughed and patted his head._

_Ezra watched from the recovering pack of wolves. He chuckled at the sight._

_“Looks like Shader really likes you,”_

_“Shader?” Tristan quirked an eyebrow at him. “Is that his name?”_

_“Her, Tristan,” Ezra rolled his eyes with a half-laugh. “Shader is a girl,”_

_“Oh,” Tristan coughed, his cheeks flushing a bit. “Sorry,”_

_“Eh, it’s hard to know when you don’t look under,” Ezra moved forward, pulling his hood down._

_Tristan’s eyes widened once he saw the other in full view._

_Ezra looked different from a few months ago. His hair had grown and was tied up with a vine. His eyes looked tired, but his sapphire blue eyes still sparkled under the light. His clothes were different too. His ripped orange and peach cloths had changed into golden clothes, his hood a dark brown. He had no shoes on while his lightsaber and blaster were strapped to his belt._

_A deeper blush settled on the Mando’s face, moving up to his ears. He set a hand on his nose and turned away._

_“I… I see that you’ve stolen a few cloths from the village,” he managed to choke out._

_“Take it as vengeance for calling me a liar,” Ezra bragged._

_“Your hair grew longer,” Tristan observed. “But… no beard?”_

_“I don’t grow a beard that quickly,” Ezra shrugged. “My hair grows faster and longer than my facial hair,”_

_Shader didn’t seem to like the lack of attention and jumped into the Jedi’s arms with a whimper. Ezra looked down at her and smiled, pressing a kiss on her head before setting her down to allow her to run back to her brothers and sisters._

_“These wolves are so protective,” he chuckled. “And so welcoming. The moment I left the shack and the village, I ran straight to the mountain to find a cave to make my own. Instead, I found their den. They took me in, and I protected them from danger, going with them during hunts and giving them all the meat I was able to find. I didn’t eat the meat, though, and just stuck to my vegetarian diet to give more to them,”_

_“I didn’t know you were vegetarian…” Tristan murmured._

_“There are a lot of things you don’t know about me,” Ezra spoke, his voice turning cold. “but you seemed to think you know me well. Even Sabine doesn’t know,”_

_Tristan frowned at the statement. He turned his head to make sure the pups were being watched over by the adult wolves before grabbing the other teen by the arm and dragging him out._

_Ezra flinched, but he didn’t resist. He let the Mando lead him outside. Once they were alone and out of the shack, Tristan let go._

_“We need to talk,”_

_“About what?” Ezra raised an eyebrow._

_“Bridger,” Tristan gave him a stern look._

_Ezra blinked at him for a moment then he growled. He crossed his arms and huffed._

_“I am selfless, and you can’t change it,”_

_“I wasn’t trying to,” Tristan sighed. “You misinterpreted my words,”_

_“Then what DID you mean?” Ezra glared at him._

_“I know I can’t change your selflessness, but at least consider that you can’t help anyone if you yourself are dying,” Tristan explained._

_Ezra looked away. “…I know,”_

_“Then why?” Tristan‘s eyebrows furrowed as he asked. “Why are you letting yourself struggle? Your wrists are still burned, and you’re most likely sore from the battle, but you’re not asking for any medical attention,”_

_Ezra’s eyes widened, his eyes lowering to his still-raw wrists before looking back up at the Mando. He clasped his hands together and shuddered._

_“It’s all I know,” he replied in a whisper. “I just… don’t want to go back to being too selfish and too trusting,”_

_Tristan was silent. He processed the younger boy’s words with a small frown then he tilted his head a bit._

_“What do you mean by that?”_

_“Tristan,” Ezra winced as he spoke, looking away again. “I was an orphan for at least 7 years. A street thief, a Loth-rat… someone everyone either hated or misjudged. Then when I finally get taken in and begin to trust people, they betray me. I trusted that one person, and it got my Master blinded permanently!”_

_Tristan grimaced, blinking in shock. He had always wondered how Jarrus got blinded. He always thought that the man was naturally blind, but he didn’t know that Bridger was the reason to the blindness._

_“Ezra…”_

_Said boy turned to look at the other with wide eyes. The Mando had NEVER called him by his first name. He had only called him using his last name._

_Tristan ignored his reaction and moved closer to the younger teen. He gently cupped his cheek and wrapped an arm around his waist, much to his surprise._

_“T-Tristan—“_

_“Stealing while you’re living in the streets is your way of survival, not an act of selfishness,” Tristan insisted. “And it was because of your crew that you opened up and trusted the person. Your Master’s blindness was NOT your fault,”_

_“How… How can you say that?!” Ezra pulled away from the Mando. “You weren’t there, Tristan! You have NO idea how it happened!”_

_“I don’t need to,” Tristan calmly replied, gently grabbing his wrist to pull him back again. “but I want to. Please, Ezra, whether you like it or not, the two of us are the only company we have. The village sees us liars and freaks. The wolves, as I can tell, are good company, but if the hunters will keep pursuing them, and they capture you, who knows what they will do to you,” His grip on the other’s wrists slowly tightened into a protective one, causing the Jedi’s eyes to widen. “We need to stick together,”_

_Ezra held his breath. As much as hated it, the Mando was right. They couldn’t split up in a planet with narrow-minded humans that sees them as a pair of crazy people._

_His face burnt red as he looked away, trying to form a decision in his mind. His eyes soon looked up at the trees, whose leaves were beginning to turn from healthy green to dying red and orange._

_Right. Fall was coming, which meant the wolves will be hunting more to hunt less during the Winter. It also meant that he had to get a harvest of berries and veggies, so he could get something to eat, which was tougher than it looked._

_Finally, he let out a groan of defeat._

_“Alright, I’ll stay,”_

_Tristan beamed in relief. He let go of his wrist and smiled._

_“You won’t regret it,”_

_“I highly doubt that,” Ezra huffed before turning to re-enter the shack._

_[END]_

“This still doesn’t show how Mom liked Dad,” Jack pointed out as the scene faded.

“Oops, wrong memory,” Gia hissed. “but at least you know the reason why Ezra decided to stay instead of leaving with the wolves,”

“Your mother looks more feminine than most males, honestly,” Aster admitted. “No wonder he’s the doe,”

“He has a Master, though?” Tooth looked concerned. “He was a slave?”

“Oh, for the love of…” Gia face-palmed.

“Tooth, he’s a Jedi, so when he calls someone his master, it’s most likely his Jedi teacher,” Aster explained. “Don’t worry. I had that same assumption too when I first chatted with Force-sensitive Pookas. They told me that their definition of ‘Master’ was their teacher or their mentor,”

“Why could they not have just called them Jedi Mentors?” North whispered to Sandy.

[“Most likely that ‘Master’ means the person had perfected the art of the Force,”] Sandy signed in reply.

“At least we know that Dad had a crush on Mom,” Jack spoke up with a grin.

“The moment your mother saw your father’s face, he was GONE,” Gia laughed at the memory. “He was all stutters and blushed up when he first tried a conversation with him,”

“Sure doesn’t act like it,” Aster observed.

“In-denial at it’s finest,” Gia shrugged as her bangles jingled and glowed again. “but all secrets must be revealed soon…”

_[FLASHBACK]_

_Snowflakes fell from the sky, frosting up the windows of the shack. Inside, Ezra was bundled up on the couch, shivering in the blankets as he held a cup of hot tea._

_“Brr!” He felt the shiver run up his neck, so he took a sip of the tea to distract himself from the cold. “How in Sith Hells did you get used to this?!”_

_“I‘m used to Krownest’s cold climate,” Tristan chuckled as he only wore his armor on top of his ‘local’ clothes. “I’ve lived there my whole life, remember?”_

_“Lucky you,” Ezra huffed with another shudder._

_“Need another blanket?” Tristan teased with a grin._

_“Give me all the blankets, and I’ll leave none for you,” Ezra hissed, hugging himself with one arm and sipping on the tea he held in his other hand._

_Tristan shook his head. “Are you sure you want to sleep on the couch this time?”_

_“I don’t have anywhere else to sleep other than this couch,” Ezra finished his drink and set it on the table before turning to snuggle into the blankets. “Goodnight,”_

_Tristan sighed in defeat. He took the cup and passed the younger teen._

_“Goodnight,”_

_Later…_

_Ezra shivered with a shaky, icy breath in the blankets. He brought his hands up and removed one of his gloves to reveal his pale, numb hand._

_“Karabast.” He groaned, clenching his hand into a fist to warm himself up but to no avail. “Ugh, too cold…”_

_Slowly and hesitantly, he pushed himself up and placed his glove back on them he pried himself off the couch. He made his way through the dark house and found the fireplace. He sat down in front of it and took out his lightsaber then he ignited it on the bundle of wood. He pressed on it until a fire erupted from the sticks._

_“Oh, thank the Force,” he let out a sigh of relief as he removed his gloves and set his hands on the flames. “Ooh… now that’s warm…”_

_He threw the gloves on the floor and went closer to the fire. He could feel his whole body warm up at the heat, making him smile and close his eyes._

_“Oh, now you decide to light up the fire?”_

_“You never asked to help with the campfire,” Ezra snickered before turning around to find the older teen standing by the doorway. “And it was freezing in the couch,”_

_“It’s less freezing in the bedroom, you know,” Tristan said as he made his way to the Jedi._

_“You want me to sleep with you?” Ezra raised an eyebrow. “In what way do you mean?”_

_“Do you want it that way?” Tristan shot back with a smirk._

_“…WHAT.” Ezra’s eyes widened, his face reddening as he backed up. “WHAT THE HELL, TRISTAN?!”_

_“Hey, it was your idea,” Tristan shrugged, sitting down beside him._

_“I didn’t mean it like THAT, you goon.” Ezra growled at him._

_Tristan shook his head but didn’t say anything as he warmed himself up by the fire. They were both silent as they sat in front of the flames, trying to avoid each other yet keep themselves warm._

_After a while, Ezra had enough of the silence tension._

_“Why are you being so nice to me?”_

_Tristan turned his head, blinking at him in surprise. “You know why already,”_

_“Other than the fact that we’re stranded here together with no contact whatsoever,” Ezra frowned, lowering his gaze to the floor. “We don’t know each other. If it wasn’t for Sabine, we’d be complete strangers, so why are you being so nice?”_

_“Ezra…” Tristan sighed. “Look, when we met, I only hated you because 1, you were a Jedi. And 2, MY sister liked you as her little brother better than me, her biological brother. It… It HURT me, okay? That’s why I was a little cold,”_

_“What changed your mind then?” Ezra spared him a small glance as he asked._

_“I… I researched about you,” Tristan admitted. “And I asked Sabine all about you. I heard of what happened to you, how the Empire killed your parents and how hard it was for you to live in the streets for most of your childhood. At first, I pitied you, but soon I realized how tough you were to survive on your own, with no help whatsoever. I began to secretly admire your toughness and respect you as a being,” He then gave a chuckle. “I thought that you weren’t like every reckless and selfless Jedi that I’ve heard so much about. I was right: you were MUCH worse, but not in the way that I thought,”_

_“In what way did you think?” Ezra questioned._

_“I thought you were trying to prove yourself to your Master, to you crew, that you had more authority and power than anyone else,” Tristan crossed his arms._

_“What is there to prove? I’ve already let them down, a dozen of times,” Ezra let out a sigh. “And what power and authority are you talking about? I’m supposed to be Commander, but I’m no good in those things,”_

_“Who says?” Tristan’s eyebrows furrowed._

_“I do,” Ezra huffed. “Everyone else says it’ll be fine, and I’ll do fine, but I know I won’t. I won’t be a good Commander. I can’t even be a great Jedi Padawan. I can’t live up to anyone’s expectations, and I’m sick of people thinking I have authority over others just because I’m Force-Sensitive. I thought YOU would be different from the others too, you know,”_

_“I didn’t think you were a typical Jedi,” Tristan scoffed._

_“But you still thought I was authoritative and powerful,” Ezra glared at him. “I don’t like that,”_

_“Sorry,” Tristan’s expression softened, brushing a hand down the other’s cheek and hair. “Mother was never interested in Jedi-related stuff, so I just learn what she tells me,”_

_Ezra gulped as the soft hand brushed against his skin. Said cheek released a deep blush before his instincts came and slapped the older teen’s hand away._

_“Stop that,”_

_“Stop what?” Tristan tilted his head, confused._

_“Stop with… the affections,” Ezra sighed and turned away again. “Please. Jedi… Jedi can’t have that. They can’t have any attachments whatsoever. It’s the only thing I know I can do and control,”_

_A bright red blush appeared on Tristan’s face, crossing to both his ears. He blinked at him for a moment then sighed._

_“Sabine told you, didn’t she?”_

_“She told Kanan, whose sudden overprotective behavior gave me a little clue to what was going on,” Ezra chuckled bitterly. “I just don’t understand why,”_

_“Hey! I’m not THAT bad,” Tristan pouted._

_“It’s not you, promise,” Ezra shook his head. “You’re amazing, cool, and…” He gulped and blushed deeper. “…undeniably handsome and pretty hot. It’s me who I don’t understand,”_

_“You down yourself too much,” Tristan frowned, leaning closer to the Jedi and wrapping an arm around him then he gently brushed a hand on his midnight blue hair again. “You’re beautiful,”_

_“Liar.” Ezra hissed with a glare._

_“When it comes to you, do I ever lie?” Tristan quirked an eyebrow._

_Ezra rolled his eyes but finally leaned in closer with a sigh. “No, you don’t. You really don’t,”_

_“Exactly,” Tristan chuckled, pulling the other closer to him._

_“But… Jedi can’t fall in love…” Ezra grumbled. “It’s… It’s not the Jedi way…”_

_“Ezra, I’m bluntly telling you how I feel about you, and let me tell you: that is NOT the Mandalorian way to court someone,” Tristan snickered._

_Ezra tried to hold in his laughter, but he ended up giggling anyway. His voice sent warm into the Mando’s heart, causing him to softly smile and carefully pull the Jedi onto his lap. He pressed a gentle kiss on his forehead and cuddled up to him._

_“I love you,” he whispered as softly and gently as he could._

_“I’d never thought that I’d hear that from you,” Ezra snickered and snuggled the other’s neck. “I love you too,”_

_[END]_

“AWWW!” Tooth And Gia cooed as the memory faded. “So CUTE!”

“Woah, did NOT expect that,” Jack’s jaw was dropped.

“I did,” Aster cackled and held out a hand towards the Guardian of Wonder. “Ya owe me 50,”

“Fine, fine, you win bet,” North grunted and handed him a handful of cash (who knows why he had it in the first place.)

Sandy face-palmed before signing. [“Did you two really bet on that?”]

“Couldn’t help it, really,” Aster grinned.

“Wait, wait, wait…” Jack scratched his head, feeling confused. “Mom And Dad keep saying that they’re the only ones they know, but what about you, Aunt Gia? Weren’t you there with them?”

“Not until two years later,” Gia answered. “I lived in the planet your mother’s from, and it took me a while to convince my uncle to let me look for them,”

“Why is that?” Tooth asked.

“Time passes faster here than there,” Gia replied. “A year there is half a century here,”

“So when did you finally find them?” Jack questioned.

“Two years on Earth, but for Imperial Space, who knows,” Gia gave a shrug. “Once I found them, I settled on Earth to watch over them,”

“Wait, since that’s in the late 1600s, aren’t people against homo relationships?” Jack wondered. “How did they get married?”

“See for yourselves,” Gia winked before shaking her bangles for another scene.

_[FLASHBACK]_

_Planet Terra, a.k.a Earth, Year 1697 AD._

_It was Early Spring. Ezra smiled as he sat on the tallest branch of the nearest tree to the shack. He let out a sigh of relief, leaning back on the bark as he looked up at the clear blue sky._

_It had been 2 years. 2 years since they had crash-landed on Earth. 2 years since they had lived in the dirty old shack that they cleaned up. 2 years since they gotten together as a couple._

_It was remarkable. They were a unique pair. They took in a vegetarian diet, not wanting to steal from the wolves and the other predators that Ezra had made a connection with._

_The villagers were a pain to them, judging them for their relationship. Even after they changed their last names to make them seem less… spacey. Ezra changed his surname to Morgan (a good memory to reminisce about) while Tristan changed his surname to Overland._

_But no matter what, the villagers were suspicious and homophobic. Tristan was doing all he could NOT to lose his mind while Ezra ignored them, showing his affections more to disgust the people and amaze the children. It was the best entertainment both of them had._

_At the moment, Tristan had taken in a job as a shepherd for a farmer and was out herding the sheep. It was taking longer than usual, so Ezra took it as an advantage to do something the Mando feared for him; nap on the highest branch of a tree._

_That afternoon was boring, even after his nap. He stared at the sky for a while before sleep threatened to crawl to his subconscious. With a groan, he closed his eyes and let it in, allowing it to guide him to slumber._

_“Ezra!”_

_“Hmm?” Said boy looked down and grinned at the worried expression of his significant other. “Oh, hey, Tristy! What’s up?”_

_“You, apparently!” Tristan let out an exasperated sigh, running a hand down his face. “Ez, please get down before you hurt yourself,”_

_“Okie, but why?” Ezra asked as he flipped over on his stomach._

_“I’ve got a surprise for you~”_

_Ezra beamed. “For me? Give me!”_

_“Get down first,” Tristan chuckled, swiveling to head to the shack. “Meet you inside, blueberry,”_

_Ezra giggled and waited until the Mando was out of sight. He then stood up and jumped down, landing on the ground with a thud. He dusted himself off and ran into the shack._

_Tristan sat on the living room couch. He laughed as he watched his boyfriend burst into their new living space, almost destroying the door. The Jedi plopped beside him and immediately cuddled for attention._

_“So… what’s the surprise?” Ezra asked, flashing an innocent look and a desperate smile at the other. “Is it something you stole from the village?”_

_“Unfortunately no, I used money I earned from work,” Tristan snickered at the younger teen’s pout before ruffling his bundle of midnight blue hair. “Don’t worry, Ezzy, I managed to swipe some coins from those homophobic kenk'irenur (fools),”_

_“Thank the Force,“ Ezra sighed in relief. “Those weirdos have been nothing but trouble. Seriously, all of them are damn hypocrites, especially at night,”_

_“I knew those freaks were up to something every time they tried to invite us to their ‘party’ with liquor in their hands,” Tristan growled, holding the Jedi closer to him._

_“It’s alright, love, we always said no anyway,” Ezra adjusted his position, so he was pressing his face on the Mando’s chest, nuzzling him in the process._

_“Yeah, good thing,” Tristan took a few cleansing breaths. “ANYWAY, there’s something we need to talk about…”_

_“What is it?” Ezra lazily looked up at him._

_“Ezra…” Tristan gently pulled away and got off the couch, much to the Jedi’s dismay. “we both know that we’ve been together for 2 years now. I know that our first impressions weren’t the best, but I was still glad we met. You were different from any and every person I’ve met. You were stubborn but affectionate. You’re emotional but kind and caring. You act normal compared to others I’ve met. You don’t act like a warrior, like a Jedi or like you’re associated to any authority. And that’s fine. No one, not even mother, had ever spoken to me so casually. You make me feel loved, more than anything in the world, and now, I can’t imagine a world without you,”_

_“Tristan…” Ezra felt his face redden with every word, but he couldn’t say anything else as the other continued._

_“I know this was all an accident. The crash and us getting stranded, but I’m happy that it all happened. I got to spend more time with you, and I got to know you. Not the you that everyone describes, but the you that you show freely, no matter what anyone and everyone says,” A deep blush appeared on the Mando’s face as he spoke before taking out a satin box from his back pocket. “I don’t want our time together to end. I don’t ever want ‘us’ to end. I know that I sound kinda selfish saying that, but it’s just… you’re the person I’ve always dreamed of having, and now that you’re here, I… I don’t wanna ever let you go, so…”_

_He went down on his knee, causing the Jedi to gasp. The older teen took this as an advantage and opened the box, revealing a silver ring with a shimmering fire opal in the middle and bits of sapphire around the main gem._

_Ezra was amazed. He covered his mouth, the blush in his cheeks deepening to his ears as his eyes soften into tears of joy._

_“Oh, Tristan…”_

_“Ezra,” Tristan held a deep breath before smiling. “I humbly ask for your hand, soul and spirit in union,”_

_Ezra’s eyes widened. He felt his heart thump fast and hard in his chest, his breath briefly leaving his very being._

_“You… You want me to… marry you…?”_

_Tristan stiffened. “W-Well, only if you want to… but you don’t HAVE to… Uh…”_

_Ezra shook his head and launched himself onto the Mando, who stumbled back and fell as he was attacked by a strangling hug._

_“You big di’kut (idiot), of course I’ll marry you!” The Jedi laughed, pressing a kiss on the other’s reddened cheek. “And you say I’M the one with the insecurities!”_

_Tristan blinked at him for a few moments to process everything before breaking out a laugh. He sat up and took the younger teen in his arms. He slipped the ring in the other boy’s finger then he pinned him to the couch._

_“You ARE the one with the insecurities, Ezra,” he chuckled. “but I’m happy to have you, love,”_

_“I’m more than happy to have you too, Tristy~” Ezra giggled, wrapping his arms around his new fiancé’s neck._

_“YAHOO!”_

_The two jumped up and turned their heads to the door as Gia (in her human form) came in through the door, a wide smile on her face as she squealed. Her hands flicked up small magical fireworks as she jumped, fan-girling like crazy._

_Ezra rolled his eyes at her. He gently pushed his lover off him then he sat up with a glare._

_“Do you MIND?”_

_“Oh, not at all!” Gia giggled. “It’s not every day my best friend chooses to finally get married!”_

_“Especially since your best friend only gets married ONCE in his lifetime,” Ezra sighed, smacking a hand on his forehead. “How long have you been watching?”_

_“The WHOLE time!” Gia cheered as she clapped her hands together. “I call bridesmaid and wedding planner!”_

_“Of course, since you are the only one who knows we’re here,” Tristan grumbled, climbing to the couch to sit beside the Jedi. “And do we really need a fancy wedding when it’s just the three of us?”_

_“Don’t forget the animals! They’re beings too! And they LOVE Ezra!” Gia insisted with a huff._

_“That’s true, they sure LOVE me,” Ezra cackled._

_“Hey! I love you more than they do,” Tristan whined, pulling the younger boy to his lap._

_“Sure you do, Tris, sure you do,” Ezra seemed to enjoy his fiancé’s complain as he grinned from ear to ear._

_“CUTE!” Gia let out another squeal before dashing out the door. “I’M ALREADY PLANNING THE HONEYMOON! THIS IS GOING TO BE FUN!”_

_“Tell me she’s joking,” Tristan looked over at the other with slight worry, knowing how CRAZY their friend could be._

_“I would, but it wouldn’t be honest,” Ezra laughed._

_[END]_

“…and I DID plan the wedding and honeymoon!” Gia finished once the scene was gone. “And it was SO sweet! Not that I watched the honeymoon part, but I already knew what they did,”

“How?” Jack asked.

“Because a week later, Ezra was pregnant with you!” Gia answered with a laugh.

“That was such a sweet proposal,” Tooth wiped a tear from her eye. “So loving, so straight-forward…”

“Young love iz always so sweet,” North agreed.

“At least we know why they changed their surnames,” Aster pointed out with a nod. “Bridger And Wren did seem a little too spacey for the late 1600s,”

“That’s not technically the end of their love story, but I was able to show how they got here and what happened,” Gia explained the she turned to a window, her wings flapping open. “And that’s all I can give for now,”

“Wait, Wait, Aunt Gia!” Jack grabbed her arm before she could take her leave. “I need to ask you something!”

“So do we!” Jamie ran over to the Winter spirit’s side. “Like how are me and Sophie part of all this?!”

“Easy, sport,” Gia ruffled the boy’s hair. “Try a family tree or a DNA test, why won’t you? You’ll see what I mean,”

“Uh, what?” The advice just left the poor child confused as he was pulled back by Aster.

“Aunt Gia, PLEASE, I need to ask you a question,” Jack was begging now.

“Okay, shoot,” Gia nodded, allowing the other teen to continue.

“Who is my ‘Uncle Koz’?” Jack questioned as he slowly retracted his hand from her arm.

“Oh,” Gia blinked for a while then she smiled. “You have a drawing of him already,”

Ezra was taken back by the statement, his eyes widening in horror. He couldn’t believe his ears! Did she just…? Was HE really—?!

“No.” He shook his head, not daring to accept the truth. “No, no, no, no, NO! You CANNOT be serious!”

“It’s amazing who Ezra befriends, don’t you think?” Gia gave him a wink before turning then she fluttered out— well, through— the closed window.

Jack watched her leave, completely confused and flustered by what he had learned. He felt lightheaded, stumbling back only to find himself in strong, furry arms.

“You alright, mate?”

He looked up and found Aster staring down at him worriedly. He blinked with a gulp then he rapidly shook his head.

“No, I… I’m not,” he held onto him, not wanting to let go as he buried his face on his chest. “I… I wanna go back to the Warren. Please,”

Aster’s worry turned to concern, but he nodded and carried the Winter spirit in his arms. He then turned to the children and motioned for them to hold on to him then he tapped his foot on the ground twice, creating a tunnel below them before taking their leave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YES! Finally DONE! Took me a while, but I finally got it!

**Author's Note:**

> First story of the ROTG. Please be nice on it!


End file.
